Sleepyhead
by Samacoy
Summary: The war is near. Violet, Daughter of Morpheus, must fight with her fellow demigods to take down the Titans. Thrown up against her father, Violet is given the duty to overthrow him. Can she? Or will his offer to make her a goddess be too hard to resist? Sequel to "Street Rat."
1. Chapter 1: Camps No Fun When You're Gone

This is the sequel to "Street Rat." If you haven't read that, I'd suggest you read that before reading this story…because it'd make more sense…I think. I'm not sure, I'm just winging it.

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We ended my first summer at Camp with a bonfire. Michael and his siblings in the Apollo cabin led the sing-a-long, their beautiful voices powerfully building the fire's flames up higher and higher. I sat next to Michael, holding his hand and smiling the entire time. Everyone was loud and proud, happy that we've avoided going into the real battle against Luke/Kronos for at least another summer.

I got my first bead; for some reason, the cabin leaders decided to put a closed eye on the bead, to signify the first time a child of Morpheus attended Camp Half-Blood. I was really embarrassed when they gave me the bead, especially since Beckendorf had a gigantic smirk on his face. But I was more ashamed of the fact that I was the unfortunate child of a traitor.

Most of the Campers didn't know about my father pledging his allegiance to Kronos and the Titans until after the fight against Luke. Immediately, a lot of them were wary, afraid that I'd turn against them too. I didn't blame them for not trusting me, but it still stung a little. Thankfully, they came around and realized by the end of summer that it would take a lot for me to just betray their trust.

Almost everyone at Camp is living for the school year; they will return in nine months. There's a few people who stay at Camp Half-Blood year round for different reasons. Some stay because they have no mortal families, while others decided to break all connection with said families. Only three of my friends, Annabeth and the Stoll brothers, will stay at Camp year round.

And now I am.

I have nowhere to go. My mother died many years ago while I was a small child. As far as I know, my grandparents are long gone and there are no aunts and uncles that exist. Ever since I was young, it was just me and the outdoors. I'm still alone, but at least I have a place to sleep.

Camp without the Campers is a little boring and you don't have a good selection of who you want to train with, but 95 % of the Hermes cabin is gone until next summer, so I at least get a bunk to sleep in. Only Travis, Connor, and Isabelle were going to be in the Hermes cabin with me this year.

I was alright with waving Beckendorf, Kayla, and Will goodbye. I was even fine with saying goodbye to Clarisse and Percy. But I couldn't bring myself to say goodbye to Michael. In fact, I just sat there for 15 minutes, crying my eyes out as Michael awkwardly tried to comfort me. As my first boyfriend and someone I truly think I love, Michael was given the unfortunate task of picking up my emotions whenever I decided something was too much.

"Don't worry, Violet, I'll write you every week. We can even IM."

I meant to respond with, "I know, I'll just miss you," but it got slurred with hiccups and tears.

Michael's mom and younger brothers waited in the car just outside the boundaries of Camp. His mom seemed like she was pleased to meet me or something, because she smiled brightly and was really nice. But when the tears started falling, she quickly backed up and looked at me as if I had a disease.

Michael kissed me on the lips lightly and backed away into the car, speeding away before I could insist that I go with him all the way to Texas to stay with him until the summer when we returned to Camp. Annabeth immediately came to me and led me back to my Cabin, where I sat crying on her shoulder for half an hour.

I wasn't very good at goodbyes, even if I'll see you soon.

Two months later, Annabeth and I are in the fighting arena, practicing new moves against one another. Annabeth isn't very good with a sword, but she's quick and destructive with a knife, something that first surprised me greatly. Unlike Clarisse and Percy, Annabeth doesn't go for brute force; she goes for accuracy and aim.

I plopped down in my temporary bunk, exhausted from an entire day's worth of practice with Annabeth. Thoughts of Luke and his loyal demigod followers plagued my thoughts. Percy would be 16 in less than a year; surely the war would be coming soon.

I didn't want to face my anyone in battle. We demigods were trained for this, but not for fighting against your own people. In the war, we wouldn't only be against monsters; we'd be against our brothers and sisters. How many friends would we lose?

My thoughts shifted to my friends back in Chicago, or better yet, my former friends. I hadn't seen or heard from in ever since the Minotaur attacked Grover and I at the beginning of the summer. I had no doubt in my mind that they were worried about me, because I was worried about them too. I longed for them.

I longed to be normal.

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*Author's Note*

Sorry this is really short and kind of bad. I was anxious to get the first chapter up so I could buy some time to finish planning the story.

XxSamacoyxX


	2. Chapter 2: Me and My Gang

**Warning: very lame chapter up ahead. If you just want to read the good stuff, you'll have to wait quite a few chapters. If you're not looking for pure-boredom and filler-chapters, turn back now.**

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Somehow, I managed to convince both Annabeth and Chiron that it was a good idea for me to leave Camp for a few days, possibly a week. Don't ask me how I did, because I personally don't know. Something about, "_I'll call you every five minutes to assure you I'm not dead_," and "_I just want to say hi, honest_."

I wanted to fly to Chicago to see my old friends; it'd been about five months since I've seen them and I've been dying to just talk to them once. I'd left them abruptly back in June just before I found out I was a demigod, and I've been itching to see them. I fully realized this would probably be the last time I'd see them, even if I weren't to die in the impending war.

But Annabeth and Chiron thought it was a bad. I wasn't sure why the Minotaur had attacked me in the middle of the day in the center of Chicago, as monsters don't generally single out and attack the children of minor gods (because they aren't something called _important_). However, given recent events, Annabeth suspects that Morpheus will try and kill me if I leave Camp, as it's physically impossible for him to do so within the boundaries.

I was ecstatic to go and see my friends. The only bad part? I have to bring Annabeth with. Despite the fact that I can fight a lot better than Annabeth and defend myself more easily, Chiron decided that it would be "best" if I brought her along. Personally, I was insulted by this insinuation and thought it'd be better for me to go alone, but I supposed it'd be better to go with her then to not go at all.

We left early on a Monday, around 5 AM. This time, Percy wouldn't be going with us; we were allowed to go on an airplane. Argus saw us off as we hopped on our respective plane to Chicago.

During the entire plane ride, Annabeth kept going off on how much she loved architecture (as if no one knew already) and how much Percy annoyed her (despite everyone knowing clearly that they were madly in love and meant to be). Personally, she annoyed me too. In fact, I had a very tempting urge to punch her. Don't get me wrong-I like Annabeth, I really do. She's very nice. But...I just find her to be midly annoying.

When we touched down in Chicago, we immediately set out to find my friends. I knew all of the spots they would generally congregate to, but I'd been away from them long enough to know that they might've moved where they hang out to avoid the cops getting familiar with their spots.

Annabeth and I headed down town where we caught sight of familiar black hair. As Annabeth was nearly hyperventilating and checking every corner for monsters, I noticed three teenagers zooming by on the other side of the road on skateboards. Immediately, a boy roughly of the same physical appearance of Shane went by. Without questioning, I knew where they were heading to.

After a couple of minutes, we came to the skate park where I would usually meet up with all my friends. A bunch of teenage boys were zooming around on their skateboards while girls sat on the side, gossiping and cheering the guys on. Only a couple of kids didn't look familiar to me. The rest were all friends.

I grinned to myself and quickened by pace; Annabeth was just a foot behind me. Together, we walked straight into the park and to the biggest cluster of teens. They all had their backs to us initially, but they all turned to look at Annabeth and I as we moved closer to them.

Jack was the first face I recognized. He stuck out like a sore thumb, mainly because he was twice the size of everyone else and clearly the leader of the pack. When I'd first met him, I was afraid of the kid, even though we were young back then; he just screamed authority. If he didn't steal for a living, Jack would make one intimidating cop. His greasy dark hair and dazzling blue eyes were precisely as I remembered, but somehow darker and crueler. Jack's happy grin immediately turned into a sneer.

Stephanie, a good friend, beamed and stepped forward. "Violet! You're okay! Where have you been?"

She and Shane ran up to me, hugging me awkwardly in a tight group. Huge smiles covered their faces; they seemed genuinely happy to see me. Shane let go of me and took a step back to look me over.

"Where have you been, Vi? After you and Grover took off, we looked for you guys. What happened?"

I grimaced, "I don't think you'd really believe me, Shane." He raised his eyebrows but didn't say anything. Shane's eyes darted to Annabeth.

"Oh, sorry. Annabeth, this is Shane and Steph. Guys, this is Annabeth."

Annabeth exchanged a handshake with Shane and Stephanie respectively. I turned to look at Jack who was frowning, along with quite a few people. Slowly, I walked up to him.

"Hey, Jack."

He narrowed his eyes. "What do you think you're doing?"

"What do you mean?"

"You take off for five months and just stroll on back like nothing happened? We search for three months for you."

I winced and looked away from Jack's smothering eyes. "I know. I got caught up in some things and had stuff to do. I'm sorry."

Jack snorted and walked away, his loyal followers going after him like lost puppies. He grabbed a skateboard and turned back to me. "I'm sorry too, Violet. But you aren't welcome here. You don't just take off and not even contact us, and then expect to have everything cool when you decide to show up. We're a family, Violet, and that's not what family does."

He hopped on the skateboard and skated over to the younger kids hitting the ramps. I turned around to find Annabeth with her mouth tight and seemingly biting back some retort, like _"I told you so." _Shane shook his head and kicked the ground with his foot.

"Sorry about Jack, Violet. You know how he is."

Stephanie frowned and shook her head violently. "He's a jerk. Jack's just mad because he thought you took off to be with Grover…you didn't, did you?"

I shook my head with disgust. "I didn't mean to take off. Things just…happened. I meant to return back to you guys, but fate came along and changed everything."

Shane frowned but didn't respond to that. "Are you staying this time? You and Annabeth?"

For a second, I contemplated that thought. How amazing it would be, to just be with my best friends again and never think about being a demigod or the impending war again. That was their world; being human was my world. Why was I supposed to help change something I didn't want to be apart of?

But I knew I couldn't. One: Jack probably wouldn't allow it. It was clear that he didn't want me to be in the group, which hurt a lot, but I knew about his little policy from day one. Second: I suppose this safe, human world wasn't mine. I was the daughter of a god and bred to fight.

Besides, Annabeth wouldn't let me.

Said girl shook her head and timidly stepped towards me. "Sorry, Shane, but Violet only came to say goodbye."

Both Shane and Stephanie did a double take.

"Goodbye," Shane choked out. "Why are you saying goodbye? I know Jack's a pain in the arse, but you can still always call us up!"

Right there, I wanted to cry my eyes out. In not even a year, I'd probably be dead. I would be up against my father in the middle of a war; demigods usually didn't make it out of a fight against gods alive. In fact, I'd be better off dead then what I was going to get as a punishment.

I shook my head, "I'm sorry guys. But after this, we'll probably never see each other again. I just wanted to see you one last time."

Twenty minutes later, Annabeth and I were heading to the hotel we'd be staying in for one night before we took the next plane to New York. I only saw my friends for a few minutes, but that was probably for the best. I didn't need to spend my time caught up in a past life of childhood homelessness and stealing to live.

I had more important things to do and think about. I had to train. I had to practice using my powers without passing out for hours at a time. If I was going to fight against the Titans and my father, I would need all the training I could get.

Sitting in the hotel room, Annabeth and I didn't talk. I knew she felt bad that only two of my former friends so much as talked to me, but I didn't feel as bad as she possibly imagined. I had new friends, ones that understood me precisely and could help me more than my old ones could. I wasn't a street rat, I was a demigod.

As I climbed into one of the beds, Annabeth turned out the light and got into her bed. It was much better than sleeping on the floor of the cabin.

"Hey Violet?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry about your friends."

"It's fine, Annabeth."

"No really, I am sorry."

"Hey Annabeth?"

"Yeah?"

"Shut up."

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***Author's Note***

**Told you it was lame. I have to admit, it's just a filler. In fact, most of the chapters will just be fillers; I would gladly just skip to the last few chapters, but I was advised against doing so.**

**Anyway, sorry I took awhile to update (and you just get crap after waiting), but I've been quite busy. School, work, Mario Cart on the Wii (ahh, good times Becca). I wrote the last chapter of Sleepyhead already, so I know precisely where I want to go with this. Plus, I've been coming up and planning out ideas for more stories (including one for you Becca…hmm, I seem to talk about you a lot).**

**Leave me a comment telling me if I should I continue with a full story, or just post the good stuff (I promise the other fillers won't me as lame, though. I pledge myself to that at least). And let me know which god sounds the best for a story I'm thinking of (not revealing any details, of course): Janus, Hecate, Hestia, Apollo, Poseidon, or Nyx.**

**Thank you!**

XxSamacoyxX


	3. Chapter 3: Mein Geburtstag

My birthday rolled around a week after Annabeth and I returned from Chicago. We were training harder than ever and I was always so exhausted that I actually seemed to forget that I was 16 years old now. I only remembered that it was my birthday after Travis and Connor Stoll took the liberty of reminding me by writing it on my forehead with permanent marker.

I was about to kill them, but I decided to brush it off with a kind thank you. I was beyond mad, but I decided to throw them off; I could always kill them later in Capture The Flag.

I never had a good birthday. The only time I'd ever gotten a present was back before my mom died and one year that I spent with a foster family. That specific family was my favorite and I probably would've stayed living with them if given the chance, but their house was filled to the brim with foster kids, so my social worker took me from them and placed me in a new place.

While I was living on the streets, a present consisted of a stolen candy bar from a gas station and a bag of chips if one got lucky. I'd been expected to treasure it whole-heartedly, although it was pretty much what my friends stole everyday to eat, so it wasn't really a gift.

Anyway, I wasn't expecting anything special when I left my cabin and headed down to the dining pavilion. But there sitting on the Hermes table were five wrapped boxes. Annabeth, Silena, Travis, Connor, and Chiron sat around the table, talking and laughing. They all turned their gaze to me as I walked towards them. Annabeth stifled a laugh as she noticed the "Happy Birthday" in marker on my head.

I was more surprised by the fact that Annabeth and Silena weren't getting into trouble by sitting at a different cabin's table rather than the gifts; Camp rules state that it's strictly prohibited. Perhaps Chiron's getting with the modern times.

I sat down opposite of Annabeth who smiled brightly, "Happy birthday Violet!" Silena grinned and threw a handful of pink confetti over my head while Travis and Connor whooped. Chiron also smiled and gestured towards the gifts.

One was small and wrapped in (what else?) shiny violet colored wrapping paper; one was slightly larger and hot pink, tipping it off to be from Silena. One was extremely large and wrapped lazily in newspaper that was clearly dated to be from three weeks ago; another was medium sized and a dark blue. The last one was the smallest and very simple, just a white box.

Annabeth rolled her eyes impatiently, "Well go on, open them!"

I opened the dark blue one first. Immediately, I knew it was from Annabeth, as it was a book. I wasn't the type of girl who read an awful lot, as I'd rather be beating you up in the fighting arena, but I still put on a smile and acted as if it was exactly what I've always wanted.

"Thanks Annabeth!"

She grinned widely, excited. "It's about the different temples dedicated to the gods!"

Silena raised an eyebrow and pushed her pink box forward. "Open mine, Vi."

It was perfume, not any better than Annabeth's book. Sure, I liked to smell good, but I usually just depended on soap and deodorant. Dutifully, I opened the bottle and took a whiff; it took all I had to not throw up.

I was scared to open Travis and Connor's present, as you never know what to expect when it comes to the children of Hermes, but they insisted that they didn't do anything bad to it. In fact, it was decent: a new sleeping bag. I had a ratty one, due to the loads of kids that've gone threw the cabin over the years, so it was kind of nice for them to give me a new one.

Chiron informed me that the purple box was from Michael, sent in last week for me. It was a bracelet. I could feel tears welling up in my eyes, not from the bracelet itself, but from the fact that he was so kind and sweet (and I loved him), yet I wasn't meant to be with him. Oh damn you Aphrodite and your cruel words!

The plain white box, however, Chiron didn't know who it was from. Annabeth was skeptical of the box, seeing it didn't say who it was from, but I opened it anyways. Inside, was a tiny gold ring with a turquoise gem. Underneath the ring lay a message:

"**I hope you'll reconsider my offer. If you join me, you can be a goddess; if you join me, you can spare the life of at least a few of your friends. This ring has been passed down through all of my children and can help expand your powers. If you decide to take me up on my offer, simply wear the ring, leave the boundaries of Camp, and think hard about me. You will immediately be transported to my location.**

**Please reconsider, child. It is the destiny of one of my children to rule by my side and you, as my most powerful child, are the one I hope the prophecy given to me refers to.**

**-Morpheus"**

Chiron was looking over my shoulder at the note, shaking his head. Silena's eyes widened and Annabeth huffed. "I can't believe it," she said, "He thinks that he can bribe you into joining him? Never mind the fact that he's threatened to kill you, Violet, but I doubt that Kronos would spare some of our lives! You can't join him!"

Anger ran through my body, "What makes you think I was going to? Just because he gave me a stupid ring? How can you keep thinking that I'm just about to betray everyone?"

Silena took a deep breath and Annabeth's eyes flashed to her face for a moment before she looked back at me, "All I'm saying is that your previous siblings all got wrapped up in the presents Morpheus kept providing! I'm just scared that you'll do the same!"

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, they all really liked his gifts, but in case you haven't noticed-HE KILLED THEM ALL!"

Annabeth huffed and stood up from the table, walking in the direction of her cabin. Travis and Conner exchanged looks and kept glancing at the ring, as if they were slightly afraid of the thing. To admit it, I was also afraid of it. Expand my powers? That didn't sound good in my opinion.

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*Author's Note*

Just a short chapter so I could update quick. You all left reviews saying "Just update!" so I decided to just keep the chapters short, but steady…maybe…How come none of you answered my questions?

Here is a picture of the bracelet: ./_xrVQ_

Picture of the ring: .


	4. Chapter 4: Congrats, you're special!

Immediately, I wanted to destroy the ring. Who knew what my father did to it? For all we know, he could've hexed it so I would want to join Kronos and the Titans. Only someone stupid would want to keep the ring around, to let alone have me wear it.

Yet, that's precisely what Chiron wanted me to do. He's said that he doubted that Morpheus would trick me into joining him, because the Titans only wanted those who actually believed in their cause. Chiron suggested that I try out the ring, because getting extra powers couldn't do anything more than actually help us.

Annabeth was dead set against me using the ring at first. Like me, she saw it was a trick. I wanted to point out to Chiron that Annabeth was a daughter of Athena, therefore she was much smarter than the average girl and we should trust her opinion, but I think Chiron would just get upset.

At the request of Chiron, I agreed to at least test out the ring. Dionysus and Chiron assured me that I wouldn't be able to just walk out of Camp and if I had the sudden urge to beat down everyone, Dionysus would be more than willing to kill me. I'm not sure how that was supposed to comfort me, but I chose not to say anything.

They all surrounded me in the Big House as I picked up the ring from its little white case and moved to place it on my ring finger. Their eyes widened and they all inched towards me, practically buzzing with fear and apprehension, minus Dionysus who lazily read People magazine in the corner.

I didn't feel different when I put the ring on, a little embarrassed by this attention maybe. Annabeth flashed her eyes away from the ring to mine. "Well?"

I shrugged and looked down at the ring on my finger. It was a perfect fit; then again, my father had decades to resize it. I had to admit, it looked kind of nice on my finger. A flash of feelings suddenly ran through my body and what felt like electricity skimmed my skin.

My eyes flashed to Annabeth's face just a foot to mine and fear widened her eyes further. She backed up a little and the others looked as if they were going to begin to panic. Suddenly, the electric feeling was gone and their tense faces softened slightly.

"What?"

Chiron looked at Travis, Connor, Annabeth, and Silena, who all nodded and wandered off and out of the Big House. Chiron motioned for the door and I followed him; when we reached the deck, he transformed from the crippled wheelchair bound form into his centaur self. He pranced off the deck with ease and began to walk down to the beach with me following dutifully. A few yards away, Annabeth and Silena were walking together and occasionally looking back at us.

Chiron didn't speak until we reached the beach. He looked thoughtfully out at the water, a smile playing on his lips when a dolphin flipped out in the Ocean.

"I've been training demigods for a long time, Violet. Almost as far back as I can remember, I was there to teach all of my family's children. Being the children of gods, there are powerful in their own right. But sometimes, you get extraordinary demigods."

I looked up at him to find him smiling down at me kindly; I frowned. "This isn't going to be a 'you're really special' speech, is it?"

He chuckled and his tail fluttered. "Most people dismiss you because your father is a minor god. Luke and Kronos, however, wanted you so desperately to join them. Do you know why?"

"Because my powers nearly match Morpheus'. We're equals."

Chiron shook his head and glanced back to the water. "No, it's because you outmatch your father."

Surprise rocked my body and for a moment, I was frozen. Chiron briefly glanced back at my face, but looked away just as quickly. We stood there for a few minutes with me trying to find my voice. Finally, I could form words in my mouth.

"What? How?"

Chiron sighed and looked away from the water, looking directly into my eyes. "I'm not going to pretend to understand it, Violet. Your half-mortal heritage should only limit your abilities, but it doesn't seem to. I'm trying to understand it, but not even the gods understand."

He seemed to get more frustrated with every word, breaking the usual self-composure he held. Chiron seemed generally confused about this, as I was. Even the gods didn't understand? I thought they held all the answers. I let his words mull over.

I thought back on the one time I met my father and the many visions I had about him. It seemed to me that he went for a different approach to me then my siblings. From the visions, I gathered that they'd known Morpheus for a long time, probably since they were babies from the looks of it. It seemed that he doted on them as children and gave them everything they could possibly want, making it clear that they HAD to repay him when he asked for their hand in taking down the gods.

But me? Shifting threw my 16 years of memories, I couldn't recall a single time I'd met my father until this summer. As far back as I could remember, it had just been my mother and I before she died; after that, it was just foster homes. No father existed for me. My mother had even told me that she didn't honestly know who my father was, making me wonder if she truly didn't know that I was a demigod. In that case, the pregnancy must have scared the hell out of her.

Chiron said that Morpheus was the only one who knew the prophecy given to him. Morpheus claimed that in the prophecy, one of his children would help him overthrow the gods, giving him a higher status in Olympus. But what if that wasn't it? What if it was that one of his children was going to overthrow _him_? Getting them to join his side would give him more control over them and keep them from overpowering him.

Chiron and I locked eyes, seemingly thinking the same thing. "Chiron," I asked slowly, "If I was more powerful than Morpheus, why would he give me a ring that would only make me stronger?" Simultaneously, we glanced down at the ring. Panicking thoughts ran threw my head, urging me to take off the ring.

I pulled it off quickly. I had a feeling that the ring wasn't to help me, but actually hurt me. Chiron held out his hand and I dropped the ring into his hand. Holding it up to his face, Chiron examined it carefully. "I think it would be best if you didn't wear this, Violet. Perhaps I'll send it to Olympus to get it checked out, just in case."

I nodded and looked down at my feet. He clamped a hand down on my shoulder.

"The remaining members of the War Council and I will have a meeting tomorrow to once again go over our plans…I think it would be best if you joined us."

I looked back up, surprised by this.

Chiron grinned for a second, but then grimaced slightly. "You've been given a task, Violet. I believe it's only fair for you to know everything if you must take this on."

A clapped my shoulder once and backed up, walking off the beach slowly. I watched him walk away until he was obscured by remaining Campers walking around. I turned and watched the Ocean, which was surprisingly calm. ()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

*Author's Note*

I know there's a problem with the links and I'm sorry, but it's not really the important thing anyway. But let's try it again!

BRACELET: ./_xrVQ_

RING: .

If it doesn't work (and you really, really want them), just give me your email and I'll mail it to you. I tried messaging it via fanfiction and it doesn't work well. Anyway, sorry about the crappy chapters. Eventually, I'll get to it.

XxSamacoyxX


	5. Chapter 5: Tasks and Visions

_The War Council consisted of Chiron and the leaders of each Cabin. Annabeth, Silena, Percy, Travis and Connor, Michael, Beckendorf, Clarisse, Katie, and Pollux were the ones of made up the Council and were the only ones allowed to not only have a say in the plans, but also see them. Even though the rest of us were going to risk our lives for the gods, we weren't allowed to even know what we were going to do. At lease, until this summer when we all started going through the motions._

_But I was going to be seeing the plans. Chiron invited me to join him, Annabeth, Silena, Travis, Connor, Katie and Pollux go over the plans and see what they were. I could only fear what they were going to ask me to do._

_Annabeth and I walked slowly to the Big House after dinner, the rest of the Campers in their respective cabins. The other leaders were already gathered in the Big House with Chiron and Dionysus, although I was told that Dionysus never even willingly participated, claiming that he didn't care if Kronos blasted all of the demigods away._

_Travis and Connor were laughing hysterically when we entered the house. Katie was scowling, Pollux was chuckling as he sat near his father, and Silena acted as if whatever Travis and Connor did was the most amusing thing she'd ever seen. I didn't even want to know what this was about._

_Annabeth and I took a seat on a long couch opposite of Silena. Chiron sat in his wheel-chaired form, papers laid out on a coffee table in front of him. Raising his hand, the room hushed, with the exception of occasional giggles from Travis and Connor. Everyone looked at him expectantly, minus Dionysus who cracked open a soda while reading a magazine._

"_Given that the other members of the Council are not here until this summer, I do not think it would be too wise to make drastic changes to our war plans. However, I do think it's about time Violet is let in on our plans."_

_Everyone looked away from Chiron to look at me. Silena smiled kindly. Travis and Connor stopped chuckling and turned their attention to me, too. Chiron took a deep breath and smiled slightly._

"_We want to give you one particular task turning the war against the Titans, Violet. When you and I were talking, I came to the conclusion that Kronos feels that you are a threat, as you're very powerful. No doubt, he will come after you to destroy you. Before that can happen, we need you to fight and overthrow your father."_

_I raised my eyebrows as everyone watched for my reaction. I immediately pictured myself engaged in battle, fighting my father. I recalled how easily he slaughtered my siblings, wondering if he could do the same just as easily to me. I know Chiron said that I was stronger than my father, but what about my brothers and sisters? Were they just as strong?_

_How was I even supposed to take down a god? Morpheus was only a minor god, but he was still very powerful. He could mimic anyone, effect peoples' thoughts (even if it was sub-conscious thoughts), make their biggest fears and insecurities become true, and more. He's spent an eternity with his powers; I've spent just about six months with mine, and I couldn't even control them half the time. How was I going to overthrow him?_

_They were all watching me cautiously, as if they were afraid I was about to bolt. Concern rimmed Annabeth's eyes. I took a deep breath, not realizing I had temporarily stopped breathing. Fear swept my mind. Very rarely was a demigod able to defeat a god. I know that Percy fought and took down Ares, but that was only because Ares didn't really think out his battle strategy. Could I defeat my father?_

"_I don't know if I could do it," I choked out._

_Chiron shook his head while the others turned their gaze to him, silent and wondering. "It would be difficult, Violet, but you're the best for the job. Taking down anyone of power that we can will greatly help our odds. Morpheus is a very powerful god, Violet; he'll be invading our dreams and cause us doubt. If he can be stripped of power, things will be easier."_

_I looked down at my hands clasped together. We all sat in silence for a few minutes, with the exception of the sounds of Dionysus sucking threw a straw every once in a while. Finally, I looked away from my hands and looked back up to Chiron's face. _

"_I'll try my best, but I can't promise anything."_

_He smiled softly and nodded. The others seemed to breathe in relief, like Morpheus being overthrown was going to be make sure we won the war against the Titans or something. We all looked at one another for an awkward moment until Chiron clapped his hands._

"_Now, time for Violet to see all of our plans."____

_Half an hour later, I was down at the archery arena. I released my arrow and watched in glide right onto the bullseye 20 feet away. Never had I missed the bullseye, not even by a fraction of an inch; perhaps I was a child of Apollo in a past life. As I cocked another arrow, I sensed someone behind me._

"_Good aim."_

_I turned around quickly and came face to face with Morpheus. He grinned and crossed his arms. Instinctively, I transformed my bracelet into my sword and had it at his throat before he could blink. Morpheus, however, simply laughed._

"_I can't hurt you and you can't hurt me, stupid child."_

_I looked at the bigger picture and noticed that Morpheus seemed to be made of water. He was swaying slightly with the wind, his body like jello. I frowned, "You're a projection?"_

_His hearty laugh was loud and birds fled from the trees. "Of course. If you joined us, I could show you how to do it too. But alas, you've been given the job to overthrow me; you're not joining us anytime soon, are you?"_

"_How'd you know that?"_

"_I may not be able to read thoughts, Violet, but I'm pretty damn near to that."_

_Morpheus glanced down at my hands and frowned. "I see you didn't like your present."_

_I looked down at my hand, the one that temporarily wore the ring that my father gave me until Chiron took it away. "Well, we don't trust you. Why would you give me a ring that would only make me stronger?"_

_Morpheus rolled his eyes, "Because I want to show you how much you mean to me. I thought if I gave you some gifts, you'd help me out."_

_I snorted and turned away from him, walking towards the direction of the cabins. Morpheus only followed me and walked at my pace, "You can't just walk away from me girl. This can be settled without us even going to war. You don't have to fight for the gods."_

_I shook my head, knowing his nonsense. "But I do have to fight for the gods. The Titans will simply enslave innocent mortals; they did it once, they'll do it again."_

_I stopped in my tracks at Morpheus's next words, "Do you want to know what happened to your mother, Violet? Do you know who killed her?"_

_I kept my face away from him, seemingly ignoring him, but I could hear almost a smile in his voice. Percy always reassured me that most gods did love all of their children and willingly had them; they weren't just random acts of lust. Some gods even purposely sought out mortals to have demigods with. But Morpheus always seemed to have children to create some super-team or something._

"_She was killed in a car accident when I was five," I choked out._

_Morpheus barked out a laugh, "No. One of your precious gods killed my Rose. They hated your mother and slaughtered her when you were five years old. They would have killed you too, if I hadn't shown up and brought you to a hospital."_

_I turned around quickly to meet a smirking Morpheus. "That's a lie! They wouldn't have just killed a mortal; they wouldn't just kill a small child! Why should I trust you? You betrayed everyone and went to Kronos!"_

_His face turned deadly and he was suddenly inches from me, towering over me easily. "I loved your mother. Rose was one of the most beautiful people I'd seen in a long time and extremely generous; why would I lie about her death?"_

_I backed away a few inches, fury running threw my body, "Because you want me to feel bad for you, or have a vengeance against the gods. I will never serve Kronos, the Titans, or you. I know that your little prophecy doesn't say a child of yours will help you stop the gods; it says one of your children will overthrow you. You're trying so hard to get me to join you because you're afraid I'll be the one to stop you."_

_Suddenly, Morpheus' eyes were a burning red and the darkening sky was littered with puffs of dark, purple smoke radiating around Morpheus. A vision was playing in my head:_

**_Morpheus was strolling through Olympus, minor gods and nymphs regarding him with a mixture between disgust and hate. A tiny girl with blonde hair was walking casually at his side; without thinking, I immediately knew this was an Oracle of Delphi._**

**"_But what does it mean, Oracle?"_**

**_The girl frowned at Morpheus' question. "I don't know for sure. I only give the prophecies; the meaning is completely up to the Fates."_**

**_He shook his head, blonde hair falling in his face. "But what do you think it could mean?"_**

**_The Oracle stopped walking and faced Morpheus, who also stopped to stand in the middle of a gold-plated street. She grimaced, "I believe it means that a child of yours will be more powerful then you; they'll overthrow you and take your position in Olympus."_**

**_His eyes widened with alarm, "How will I stop them?"_**

**_The Oracle shrugged, "There's the option of not having them in the first place. However, the Fates obviously demand that they are born, or you wouldn't have a prophecy to begin with. Your second option would to just befriend them and have them join you; if they trust you, they won't overthrow you."_**

**_Morpheus nodded slowly, taking deep breaths. "How do I do that?"_**

**"_Do what a mortal parent would do. Be there when they need you, give them occasional gifts, and make sure they know that you care about them. But be aware, I see a child resisting you."_**

**_He frowned and looked over his shoulder at a couple of Nymphs and Satyrs watching the two of them curiously. Morpheus turned his attention back to the wide-eyed Oracle. "Do you have a vision of what the child looks like?"_**

**_The Oracle concentrated for a moment, eyes glassy and thoughts afar. "A girl clouds my vision. Very young, but very powerful. I can see the two of you standing in a strange city, fighting; demigods are battling all around you."_**

**_Morpheus' eyes widened. "Do you think that is the child of the prophecy?"_**

**_She shook her head, "I have no way of knowing. She's all I can see; for all I know, she may not even be your child, just a demigod fighting to live."_**

_Suddenly, the vision stopped and Morpheus stood over me, angrier than ever. I backed away quickly. "If only the Oracle would have told me you were my child. I had a feeling that she knew, she was just trying to protect you. I should have killed you as a baby, or better yet, killed your mother when she was pregnant."_

"_I thought you loved my mother."_

_He shook his head, "I did. I wanted so desperately to keep her forever, but she didn't want that. Rose was afraid of me when I revealed to her I was a god. She knew something was off with you, but Rose loved you too much to give you up. She took off one day and kept moving, trying to evade me."_

_Tears were brimming my eyes. "You killed her. Why would you try and pretend that the gods killed her, like you said just a minute ago?"_

_Morpheus rolled his eyes, "I didn't think you'd see that vision. Besides, I had to kill her; she wouldn't just let me kill you! I found her after you got into a car accident. Rose said you were safe and that I wouldn't be able to just find you, so she was no use to me. Don't worry, though. When I kill you, you'll see her in Hades."_

_A shout in the distance caught my attention. Annabeth was yelling my name, adding something about Chiron wanting to see me. I looked briefly back at Morpheus who was fading away as we heard Annabeth stomping threw the trees._

"_See you in battle, child."_

_Morpheus disappeared before Annabeth reached the clearing. She looked confused at my tears and red-brimmed eyes, but I couldn't very well tell her what happened. I needed to speak to Chiron, to the gods, to someone who personally knew Morpheus. _

_*Author's Note*_

_Sorry for the lame chapter. I hope it wasn't too rushed, especially with the "the gods killed her/oh, sorry, I lied; I killed her" thing. Did you understand? I hope so. Oh, and the next chapter will skip to June o we can get the good stuff rolling (because let's face it, Camp is boring without tons of Campers). Anyway, thanks for reading!_

_Reviews are appreciated! _

_XxSamacoyxX_


	6. Chapter 6: Greetings

I was more than pleased at 8 AM on June 1st. I woke up bright and earlier, cleared my stuff from the bunk I'd been sleeping in for the past nine months and claimed a good spot on the floor. I ate breakfast with the few people who remained at Camp for the entire year, but could hardly touch my eggs and toast; I was too excited.

The campers who left for the school year came flocking back in large herds. A couple of them left their schools a few days early to arrive in time for the summer session of Camp Half-Blood to begin. Clarisse was one of the first arrive, her mom dropping her off at the boundaries at precisely 8:30 AM. She was tanner and her hair grew out more, making her look healthier, but she seemed angrier; it appeared that she would rather duel a monster than spend nine consecutive months with prissy mortals.

Annabeth and I stood waiting at the top of Half-Blood Hill, waiting for our respective boyfriends (even if Annabeth and Percy keep denying their feelings). After half an hour of waiting, Chiron came by to tell Annabeth that Percy would arrive in a few weeks, as he was vacationing with his parents and mortal friends. Of course, by mortal friend, he meant a girl named Rachel who seemed to gave a gift for seeing through the Mist. Annabeth was put out and spoke about Rachel with bile in her throat, but I didn't have a lot of time to comfort her.

Michael was dropped off by his mother, step-father, and younger brother. He looked as if he grew a fraction of an inch, but he was just so short that it didn't even make a difference. We locked eyes before he crossed the boundary, huge grins on our faces. Simultaneously, we broke into a run and met just within the boundaries.

We greeted one another with a kiss. It'd been too long since we'd seen each other. Over the year, we had IMed one another constantly and wrote letters, but it just wasn't the same as actually being together. We pulled away from another and smiled contently.

"Hey there Ladybug," Michael exclaimed happily.

I giggled in spite of myself and wrapped him into a hug. "Hey Mikey. I missed you!"

After a moment, Annabeth coughed awkwardly; we pulled away. Michael picked up his abandoned backpack laying on the ground and we walked hand in hand down to his Cabin so he could get settled in. As he greeted his siblings, Annabeth and I sat down on the steps to the Apollo Cabin.

"I'm sorry that Percy won't be here for another couple weeks, Annabeth."

She turned to look at me with a sullen expression, "I think it's because he's with _her_." Annabeth kicked at the ground and pulled grass out, ripping them into little pieces.

I rolled my eyes, "You act as if they're dating or something. Besides, what has this Rachel done to you?"

"She took away Percy!"

"No, she's friends with Percy. How come you and Percy can't see that you two totally like each other, but everyone who meets you can?" Annabeth turned to glare at me, seemingly mad, but she had a sparkle in her eyes.

"Percy doesn't have a crush on me."

"Yes he does. He wants you, 'Beth. And you want him. Just admit it and kiss the boy when he gets here."

The Cabin door opened and Michael raised an eyebrow. "Talking about Percy?" I grinned and nodded. Michael laughed a little and shut the door, jumping the steps to get to the ground. Annabeth and I stood up, walking along side Michael down to the Arena. Michael looked around happily, ecstatic to be back at Camp, the one place Michael was convinced he belonged.

Down at the Arena, Clarisse was already back into the full-swing of things. She and one of her brothers were dueling, striking one another violently with their swords. Her brothers was a terrific fighter and could take down anyone at Camp, but he was no match for Clarisse; she took him down quicker than I could say "duck!"

Clarisse grinned and held out a hand to help her brother up; he took it and she helped him stand and steady himself. He said something quietly, causing Clarisse to bark with delight. As he walked away from the Arena, Clarisse turned her attention to us, a wicked grin on her face.

"I almost missed you guys. But then, I came back and realized just how much I hate you all."

I rolled my eyes and changed my bracelet into my sword; the amulet became my shield. Immediately, Clarisse attacked me. I was expecting this; I anticipated this. It was so dull dueling with people who simply could not keep up with you. Now Clarisse (and any child of Ares) were fun to fight with, mainly because they gave you a run for your money. Born warriors, they were the ideal fighting partner.

I met my sword with her strike. Our swords clanged, just like good times. I grinned and thrust my sword to her stomach.

The first night of the start of Camp was the best. There weren't as many Campers as normal, though. Some demigods pledged their allegiance to Kronos; others were killed when the Titans came across them and they refused to join them. Others simply ran away, fearing the war all together. I don't blame them much. I don't want to have to go into war with the thoughts of how many demigods we'll lose and the fact that I'll have to overthrow my father.

But the demigods were happy at Camp. Dinner was loud and ecstatic, even if we only had about half the Campers as normal. The Apollo Cabin led songs at the campfire; Michael belted out with such a beautiful voice that harmonized perfectly with his siblings. Everyone stood and sang cheerily. Even Clarisse couldn't help but join the song.

As I settled on my spot on the floor, I couldn't help but feel uneasy with the silence that was cast as everyone went to bed, though. As if it was a fact, I knew the thoughts of missing demigods were running through everyone's minds. Many of people's brothers and sisters betrayed them; many were singled out and slaughtered. In a way, it wasn't fair for the gods to ask us to fight for them, when we already lost so many people.

But I suppose it was our duty. Besides, the fall of the gods meant the fall of civilization and I wasn't going to let that happen. Too many innocent people were at risk and we were the only ones who would be able to save them.

After a while, I slipped into unconsciousness. I was immediately met by Josie and Ryan, whom I was still holding in the dream world. They were accompanied by a couple other demigods that pledged their allegiance to Kronos; I met them once when Chiron asked for a couple of Campers and I to go out and try and convince them to come back to us. When they refused, I sucked them into my world where they wouldn't be able to hurt anyone during the war.

While the others were just getting angrier and angrier, Ryan seemed to accept the fact that he wasn't getting out of my dream world very easily. He was wearing down and going with the flow. This was good. This was the plan. Chiron and I came up with the idea that we could eventually get the trapped demigods to fight for us. Ryan, a seemingly pacifist, didn't want to see the gods and Titans fight. He just wanted a little justice and to not be looked down upon because his father wasn't a major god.

I suppose I could see things his way.

As I entered the dream world, I got reproachful looks from Josie and the cluster of demigods who were standing in a tight circle. Ryan sat out of the circle, looking bored and counting freckles on his arms. I walked straight up to him.

Ryan looked up slowly, a grimace crossing his face. "Yes?"

"I wish to take you out of the dream world, Ryan, but you have to promise that there will be no funny business."

Immediately, Ryan's face perked up and he stood up quickly. "I can leave?"

"Not necessarily. We wish to speak to you. You must hear us out and not attack in any way, or you will immediately be back in here until the end of time. Do you understand?"

He nodded quickly and promised that there would be no funny business. My lips twitched at his enthusiasm. "Good. Now…stay still." Ryan did as I said and I concentrated hard. A moment later, we were standing in the middle of the Hermes Cabin. Ryan took a deep breath and looked around happily in the dark. The others were fast asleep.

Ryan looked into my face and I motioned to follow me out the door. With him walking right next to me and a grin on his face (probably due to the fact that he was finally seeing something other than just white), I went straight to the Big House. Chiron had given me the duty to fall asleep and bring him Ryan.

I didn't knock on the door; I was used to letting myself in. Chiron and Dionysus were playing cards. Chiron looked in our direction as I shut the door behind me, his eyes grazing Ryan's face. Said boy suddenly went still, afraid. Chiron, however, smiled and pointed to two empty chairs. "Sit."

Ryan and I obeyed this command and Dionysus dealt me in. Chiron watched Ryan as the boy kept stealing glanced at Dionysus. "Ryan."

He turned his attention to Chiron, who called out the boy. He took a deep breath as Chiron launched into discussion. "We brought you from the dream world because we know that you don't actually want to see the gods get taken down. You're a good kid, Ryan, you just got influenced by those who were not good kids."

Ryan looked down at the table. Chiron took a minute to look through his cards before he continued on. "We want you to fight with us, Ryan. When we win, your father and those who tried bringing down the gods will be punished, but you won't Ryan. In fact, you'd be thanked for your help."

Ryan frowned, "I thought we're supposed to stay loyal to our fathers." He glanced sideways at me and I couldn't help but scowl. I put down my cards and faced him.

"You shouldn't be loyal to them when you don't believe in their cause. I know you don't want to see civilization fall, Ryan."

"Who said that civilization will fall? Kronos said that he'd keep the world just as it is now, minus the gods of course," he said challengingly.

"Don't be a fool; that's what they want you to think! When the Titans ruled, they kept mortals as their slaves and treated them like crap! Do you want to see innocent children act as slaves and get punished? As demigods, we're the only ones who can keep them from a fate that they are not meant to be dealt!"

Ryan grimaced and distanced his eyes; with my abilities, I knew precisely where his thoughts were going; he was imagining a world with the Titans ruling, where small children were getting slaughtered left and right. I knew that deep down, Ryan always knew that the Titans were wrong. He was just too loyal to disagree.

Ryan took a deep breath as I picked my cards back up and get back into the game. We sat in silence for a few minutes until Ryan spoke up. "Okay, fine. I'll do it. I'll help you." I smiled to myself, as did Chiron. Even though Dionysus didn't smile or make any indication that he was happy that Ryan was joining us, I knew he was glad when he dealt Ryan some cards and called him Robert.

*Author's Note*

Sorry about the delay in updates. I've been busy: school, babysitting, work. Anyway, thanks for the reviews, I really appreciate them. And once again, sorry that the links for the pictures didn't work. They really aren't important anyway…just use your imagination. Just let it be known that the bracelet from Michael was sparkly.

I'll try and be better at updating, but I can't promise anything!

XxSamacoyxX


	7. Chapter 7: Take You Down

No one really trusted Ryan. Everyone got all shifty eyes when he was around, as if they expected him to just start attacking or make a couple dozen monsters appear out of thin air. Ryan was treated like an outcast, with no one so much as speaking with him. If someone did talk to him, it was typically an insult or a threat.

I didn't blame everyone that much.

Ryan betrayed the gods in the first place. Betray the gods, you betray their backup army, a.k.a., us. If you betray the demigods, you got a war on your hands. People don't trust a traitor and certainly not one who "suddenly" sees the light and rejoins your side. Chiron announced to everyone that I'd convinced Ryan to rejoin us, but some people weren't convinced. Heck, some people didn't even trust me.

There's no way you can be more powerful than a god unless you were blessed by a Titan, in which case, you inadvertently become a god. Chiron was still uncertain as to just how I became more powerful than Morpheus. Apparently, Chiron spoke with the Olympians and they were just as confused as us when it came to it. Only the Fates, a previous Oracle, Morpheus, and Kronos knew the truth. However, seeing as one of them was dead, two of them were trying to kill the gods, and the last wouldn't even be able to tell us what was going on, we had no way of knowing.

Ryan walked beside Annabeth, Michael and I as we headed in the direction of the fighting arena. Ryan had been free of the dream world for two days and seemed to be in good health, aside from the fact that he was drained of his powers almost completely. Chiron reassured us that he'd be able to regain his strength before the war, but Ryan was having difficulty with not being able to use the powers.

I imagine that I looked like Ryan when I first arrived at Camp Half-Blood, or even when I met Luke and his crew on the Princess Andromeda. He could barely hold a sword, although I was told that I was a clear natural. Ryan was no match for anyone, even one of the newest demigods who arrived just the day before; that wouldn't be bad, if she weren't nine.

Forget archery, that was not his style. Ryan couldn't forge anything, although he seemed quiet gifted in finding sticks to make arrows out of. He was small and quick and had nearly no difficulty climbing the rock wall, but Ryan was very hesitant to so much as speak with someone, let alone fight them.

I realized that Ryan was a pacifist. He wasn't a fighter and we'd have a hard time turning him into a cold-blooded killer that we so desperately needed. Ryan wasn't comfortable in this world of violence, something that surprised me, seeing as that his previous siblings and mine were skilled fighters and our fathers are ruthless. Then, I realized something more: Ryan and I didn't really need to physically fight. Our fathers' abilities strictly rely on getting into someone's head and messing it up. Our fighting typically was done best on the side and our of harms way.

But I preferred to fight with a sword and shield.

"What're we doing," Ryan asked nervously as we reached the arena.

I grinned and stopped in the middle of the field, turning back to look at him. "I'm going to teach you how to fight properly."

"I thought we agreed that I'm hardly capable of holding a shield, much less fighting someone."

Annabeth rolled her eyes from next to him, "Anyone can be trained to fight; demigods are especially easy to train. Fighting is in our blood."

Ryan shook his head and carefully took the sword Michael was holding out towards him. "Maybe I'm a genetic freak; I don't want to fight."

Michael's mouth tightened and he frowned. "Sorry, buddy, but you don't have much of a choice. You know the deal; fight with us and you're a free man."

Ryan nodded slowly and tensed up, preparing to practice. I almost felt bad for the kid. He didn't belong in this world, truly he didn't. But he was a demigod and whether he wanted to or not, he was going to have to fight sometime. No matter which side he chose, Ryan would be up against someone.

I attacked first, my sword hitting his shield with such force that he stumbled back. Michael and Annabeth quickly scrambled off, knowing better than to get in the way. Ryan looked down at his shield briefly and stole a glance at me as I came charging again. This time, he raised his sword to meet mine. Our blades clanged and Ryan looked surprised.

This time, he charged me.

Ryan caught on quickly, even if he was reluctant. Soon, he was matching my fighting skill, no doubt using his abilities to mimic that were similar (although less powerful and profound) to quickly realize little tricks here and there. While he couldn't overpower me, Ryan was able to hold his own within half an hour. He may not like fighting, but he was born to do so.

In honor of nearly all of the Campers returning to Camp Half-Blood, Chiron decided that, on the fifth night, we should play Capture the Flag. The Campers broke out into excited screams; usually, they were so tense about the impending war. I assume that Chiron decided to make them loosen up just a tad bit. Capture the Flag was the Mecca when it came to Camp and definitely one of my favorite parts.

Most of the time, the Athena Cabin and Ares Cabin led the teams. Whenever it's announced that we're to play Capture the Flag, the Camp gets split down the middle and the teams make alliances. Typically, Ares will take Hephaestus (at the very least), creating a super team of big Campers with brute force. Athena almost always takes the Apollo and Hermes Cabin, adding quite a lot of Campers, enough that Ares could take the rest of the Cabins and we'd be pretty much equal.

I was in sitting in the Hermes Cabin with Connor, Travis, and a few others before dinner when Annabeth showed up. Typical Annabeth, she didn't knock and simply swung the door open, letting it hit the wall. Connor jumped and ripped around, "What the Hades, Annabeth? Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

Annabeth grinned and nodded, calmly walking into the Cabin and looked around at the scatter of too many sleeping bags and piles of clothes laying carelessly on the floor. She scrunched her nose in distaste. "It's too cluttered in here; there's too many demigods."

Connor raised his eyebrows and I locked eyes with an unclaimed demigod named Ryan for a brief moment before I stood up from my spot on the floor and put the book I was reading into a backpack from the Camp Store. "Sorry that some of our parents don't have Cabins, or we just weren't claimed," I muttered. Annabeth's eyes went wide.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to insult you guys or anything!" She looked around at the couple of unclaimed demigods who were staring dully at their shoes and at LeAnne, a daughter of Nike. Slowly, LeAnne and Ryan nodded at Annabeth, silently saying that it was fine. Ananbeth shook her head, as if trying to shake off the mistake she said. After a minute, she looked up at Connor and Travis.

"Athena's the blue team leader; Ares is red. Katie and I wanted to know if you guys and the rest of Hermes wanted to join our team. Everyone else has teamed up with Ares and I expect that Clarisse will be coming around anytime now to recruit you."

Travis nodded in agreement as he tidied up his bunk, "Yeah, sure. What's the game plan?"

Connor ran off to call of the Hermes and Demeter Campers together so we could discuss tonight's battle strategy. I followed him carelessly, telling the respective Campers to meet in the Hermes Cabin. I caught a glimpse of Michael heading towards his Cabin, wearing his training armor and carrying his sword. His head was bent down, like he was watching his feet.

I ran towards him, catching up to him in no time. I grabbed his free hand and he looked up, smiling brightly. "Hey," he said softly.

"So you're teaming up with Clarisse? What happened to you promising to me last summer that we'd eventually be on the same team?" He grinned sheepishly and his sweaty face reddened with me calling him out.

"Yeah, well, the Ares Cabin will be doing our chores for two weeks and my brothers and sisters didn't want to pass that up." I rolled my eyes but smiled all the same.

"You're such a sucker for getting out of stuff."

"What? Do _you want to clean out the stables? Be my guest, in fact, I think Clarisse would get down on her knees and thank you. She hates chores almost as much as I do."_

_I nodded and we walked in silence. After a minute, we reached the Apollo Cabin and I could hear his siblings buzzing excitedly inside. Kayla's loud and booming laugh could be heard from out here and I couldn't help but laugh along with it. Michael grinned as we stood just outside the Cabin, looking into each other's faces (which was a little awkward, seeing as I had to look down and he had to look up). _

_Slowly, we got closer and our lips met. His sweaty face touched mine, but I didn't mind all that much. Michael reached out with his free hand and placed it on my back. _

"_Hey! Quit fraternizing with the enemy!" _

_I pulled away quickly from Michael to see Clarisse shaking her head and marching over to us. The Apollo Cabin door open and Kayla's face appeared, raising her eyebrows at the scene. I turned to Michael quickly and gave him a peck on the cheek, jogging away from the Cabin and past the Hephaestus Cabin and to Hermes. _

_Inside said Cabin were three Cabins crammed together and talking in hushed voices. I slipped in past a group of Demeter demigods cluttered near the door and made my way over to Connor who was watching Annabeth, who was huddled over a map, drawing out plans._

"_You're late," Connor whispered, not taking his eyes off of Annabeth's slender body._

"_I had a meeting to attend."_

_Connor grinned and glanced at me, "If you make us lose because Michael distracted you, you're officially banned from my inner circle."_

_As soon as the moon kissed the Earth and darkness overtook our side of the world, the games began. The Red Team (Ares, Hephaestus, Apollo, Dionysus, and Aphrodite) ran off to the opposite end of the woods to their base. The Blue Team (Athena, Demeter, and Hermes) went to the other side of the woods. Annabeth led the way, walking a few feet ahead of everyone with her heads held high, as if she were put in charge or something._

_I didn't mind Annabeth, in fact, I liked her. However, I often got the impression that she thought she were slightly better, as her mother was on a higher hierarchy than the rest of us, even the other Olympians. Most of the other kids were fine with that, but I wasn't._

_I walked right beside her, holding the flag bearing Athena's symbol. We congregated at Zeus's Fist and gathered around Annabeth. Said girl pulled out a map and started reviewing the plan one last time. Usually, Annabeth sent a small team out to retrieve the Flag and I would be apart of it, acting as a lookout and bodyguard. I was the most able, as I could shoot down anyone in the trees and take on anyone with a sword. Kind of best of both worlds._

_But this time, I was going to retrieve the Flag on my own. Two false groups would be going into the enemy territory, with two girls around my height dressed in very similar gear to mine. This would be a distraction, as the other team have become accustomed to our attack. _

_Annabeth nodded to one of her brothers who took the Flag and started climbing up a tree, hiding the Flag on one of the highest branches. He and another Athena girl sat on a couple of branches, bows and arrows in tow. Annabeth locked eyes with me and she nodded once to me; I nodded in return and the conch shell rang throughout the Camp. The game began._

_I took off in the opposite direction of Zeus's Fist, taking a hard left and running at full speed to the boundary, the Creek. Used to running through obstacles and evading others, I was nearly as silent as a mouse. One of the mock groups were behind me, stomping through branches and grass. I jumped across the Creek and crossed over onto Red Team turf. _

_Immediately, I almost ran into Shane Devlin, son of Ares. Just feet from him, I twirled around and hid quietly behind a tree. Shane turned around from his spot and pulled out his sword; squinting his eyes at the place I'd just been, he barked out, "Who's there?"_

_One of his brothers, Tomas Wright, and a sister, Lindsey Schultz, immediately perked up from their positions and struggled to see in the dim light. I peeked around the tree to see there were a couple of sons of Hephaestus also in the direct area. It was surprising to see guards so close to the border, especially big ones that would normally guard the Flag. This meant Clarisse was insecure about her plans and wanted to stop us before we could get too far into her territory, which she normally welcomed (an added challenge)._

_I frowned and whipped around, quietly and quickly making my way out of the immediate area. I carefully looked where I placed my feet and kept my eyes open for Apollo demigods scattered in the tops of trees. After a few minutes of running, I heard shouts coming from the border; the second group probably dispatched from base and ran into the border patrol._

_A backup group of Hephaestus demigods zoomed pass me, barely avoiding colliding with me as they rushed out from behind trees. They headed in the direction of the shouts with their swords out. Clever Clarisse; she's getting sneaky._

_I turned again scanned the trees. No one was in sight, so I quickly climbed the nearest tree until I got high enough to scan the horizon. About a hundred yards away, I could spot the Red Team's Flag, which was surrounded by Clarisse, the rest of her siblings and the majority of the Hephaestus Cabin. Aphrodite demigods and Pollux (son of Dionysus) were sitting on the ground, pulling grass from the ground and ripping them up. Getting past them would be a cake walk._

_Facing the border were the Apollo Campers, at least, the majority of them. They were high in the trees, taking aim at the poor Campers who ran into the border patrol. Off to my side, Michael and Kayla were marching back and forth, bows cocked and waiting. I quickly climbed down the tree and ran in their direction. _

_I waited behind a large tree to ambush the two. When they were facing the opposite direction of me, I ran at them full speed, transforming my bracelet into my sword. In less than five seconds, Kayla and Michael spun around ready to fire and my sword was at Michael's throat. He gulped with surprise._

_Kayla had her arrow pointing directly at my face, a look of fear on her face. Michael's face eased and tension rolled out of his body when he realized who ambushed them. Slowly, he grinned. Kayla however narrowed her eyes. "No intentional maiming."_

"_I'm not. I'm simply taking out the competition. Besides, would I really hurt Michael?"_

_Kayla slowly lowered her bow to the ground, but she pulled her sword from off her back and brought the blade down on my arm. Immediately, the sharp blade struck my skin and cut it open. Blood ran out and pain shot through my arm. I twisted away from her and Michael and got into fighting stance._

"_Kayla," Michael murmured warningly, "What are you doing?"_

"_Just because you're willing to be taken prisoner by your girlfriend doesn't mean I am! Clarisse will chew us out if we lose to Violet again!"_

_With that, Kayla and I became locked in battle. Michael backed up quickly, wanting to stay out of the fight. Kayla was a good fighter, much better than most of her siblings. But the battle didn't last long. Kayla got a swipe at my face and left a gash on my cheek, but I took her down in about five minutes. With the butt of my sword, Kayla was knocked out and sleeping on the ground. Using rope given to me, I tied Kayla and Michael together quickly; Michael didn't even put up a fight._

_I smiled at him for a minute before I took off. He smiled right back and suddenly, I couldn't imagine that Michael wasn't right for me. He was perfect, everything I wanted: cute, funny, kind. After a moment, Michael frowned and motioned for me to go get the Flag. I nodded once and ran off. _

_It was a really stupid thing to do, I fully realize this. You see, I didn't get my sword out or start hitting people with my arrows. Instead, I ran into the small clearing in which the Flag was being held, empty handed and relying on simply being quick. When I entered the clearing, I didn't stop to survey my surroundings or the crap load of demigods who were guarding the Flag. No, I bolted for that Flag._

_At first, no one noticed me. I'm a very fast and quiet person; I can get in and get out like it's no one's business. As soon as I got my hand on that Flag, though, everyone seemed to notice me. Clarisse cried out and started charging me with her spear out and a dozen demigods right behind her. I gripped the Flag tightly and immediately ran the way I came in._

_Luckily, all of the Ares and Hephaestus kids are big and bulky, making them slower than me. I quickly got the lead in the chase and zoomed back past Michael and the still knocked out Kayla. A few arrows started falling all around me, the Apollo children trying to work their magic, but I was just a few steps ahead of them. _

_Soon, I was near the Creek. A couple of demigods on my team were in sight and cheering me on, getting excited. Clarisse, who was right behind me, had her hand stretched out and almost wiggled the Flag out of my hand, but I leaped over the Creek and landed on my side. Immediately, the red Flag turned into one designated as Hermes'. My teammates roared with excitement and joy. Clarisse and the others groaned, as they were once again defeated by me._

_Later, we had a little party, as we always do. A little feast of desserts and drinks were in order and the red team quickly forgot who won Capture the Flag. I sought out Kayla and personally apologized about knocking her unconscious and tying her up; she apologized for giving me a scar on my face and a scar on my arm._

_Michael and I left the party early. In fact, we were there for about a total of five minutes. Parties weren't our scene, so we headed down to the archery area. There, we practiced in the moonlight. With silence (spar the arrows hitting the targets and our bows snapping with release), it was peaceful, just Michael and I. When we were alone, it was like the upcoming war didn't exist; like my father didn't want to murder me because I was more powerful than him; like I didn't have a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach that something was going to happen to Michael._

_*Author's Note*_

_I know, I know, I'm sorry. I'm sucking at updates and I apologize. But today is my last day of school, so I'll be able to update all summer. I didn't mean to leave you guys just hanging or whatever, I've just been distracted. Anyway, I'll try and get the next chapter up soon._

_XxSamacoyxX_


	8. Chapter 8: Distrust and Charlie

"You're actually getting fairly decent, Vi." I smirked at Clarisse's comment as I knocked her sword from her hand.

There are few people who can actually beat Clarisse in a challenge. Better yet, there are few people who won't be slaughtered when Clarisse loses and is angry about it. Ever since my first few weeks at Camp Half-Blood last summer, I've been in both categories. For some reason, Clarisse seems to like me. Usually, Clarisse is only friends with her siblings, but her and I created a special friendship. I think it had to do with the fact that we've been misunderstood our entire lives.

I was seen as street trash; she's been seen as a dumb fighting robot. Not that I'd tell her that people call her that behind her back.

I grinned and lowered my sword, giving her permission to gather up her own. Clarisse made it a big show, moving slowly as she bent down to pick up her weapon and stand up straight again. I rolled my eyes and she lunged forward. As the blade of her sword was an inch from my face, I jabbed mine up and knocked the blade away from me.

Clarisse spun and ran forward once more, yelling with fury. Again, I blocked her and sent her sword soaring threw the air and to the ground. I laughed as the weapon bounced on the ground twice then shuddered to a stop. I looked into Clarisse's face, expecting her to laugh like all the other times, but her expression was sullen as she peered into my own face.

"What's wrong, Clarisse?"

Clarisse didn't answer. Instead, she turned to look at the distant lake that was visible through the trees. She put her hands awkwardly into her jean pockets and stood silently. I sat and watched her curiously for a minute, expecting her to say something. She, however, simply sat and stared. Slowly, I crossed the field and stood next to her, watching some naiads splashing around in the lake.

"Are you afraid to face your father, Violet?"

I was taken aback when Clarisse suddenly spoke. My teeth clenched and my jaw tightened. This question was one that I knew was on everyone's minds. Most demigods didn't have to deal with the fact that they'd fight against their parent and risk losing their life against them. I tried not to think about it often, but I couldn't help it when someone brought it up.

I was anxious to face my father, of course. Only a fool would not have the slightest of nerves when you would face a god, whether you're stronger than him or not. But fear, I haven't felt since Chiron started helping me control my powers and expand them better.

"Not really."

Clarisse slowly turned her head to look at me. Her expression was so withdrawn and emotionless, I thought I offended her for a moment. After a moment, she shook her head and bit her lip.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that," I demanded.

"There's still a lot of people who don't trust you."

I processed this for a moment, but stomach turning. "Do you?"

"Not really," she replied coldly.

My throat jumped into my mouth and my stomach dropped suddenly, creating a pain in my stomach. My eyes burned and inched without warning. Clarisse was regarding me with cold eyes. My mind and heart were feuding all of a sudden: my heart felt offended. Here I was, considering Clarisse to be one of my only friends in the world, and she doesn't trust me. Then again, my head had a good defense; I was a lot stronger than the rest of the demigods here, even stronger then my godly parent. I was the perfect pawn for Kronos. Clarisse would be stupid to trust me so easily.

I nodded slowly and Clarisse looked back out at the lake. "I want to trust you, Violet, I really do."

I turned my attention to the lake as well, smiling softly as a group of younger demigods tipped over their canoe that they were in on the water. The girls screamed about getting their hair wet. When the boys proceeded to dunk the girls underwater, I couldn't suppress a smile.

Clarisse nodded slowly and glanced back at me, although I purposely kept my gaze away from her. Quickly, I assessed different ways I could show Clarisse and my friends that I'm not going to betray them. Could they not see that I was betrayed my by father? Could they not see that I fully realized that I was only born because my father was trying to create a perfect fighting machine to bring Kronos to power? I risked being killed by Morpheus after I refused to join Kronos; I risked my life to help protect the town of mortals when Luke and his demigod followers attacked. At any point, Morpheus could have killed me, as I was weaker and didn't understand my superior powers.

Why couldn't they see that?

"There's no way for me to prove to you that you can trust me, Clarisse. It's just something you're going to have to risk."

With a final glance at the naiads, I tread away from Clarisse and out of the arena. As I headed back to the Hermes Cabin, I was more aware of the anxious glances from my fellow Campers. I was too foolish to believe people actually trusted me to not see it before, but it was perfectly clear now. People kept their distance. Eyes kept shifting and following me as I passed. Younger demigods paused what they were doing to watch me go. I was suddenly very conscious to the smell of distrust in the air.

"Violet," someone shouted.

I turned quickly on the spot, hair whipping through the air. Beckendorf was running to me, a smile plastered on his face. He stopped just short a few inches from me, his massive frame overpowering me and making me look average against him. Beckendorf rubbed a greasy hand on his jeans and grinned widely.

"I'm off to go get Percy."

I was taken aback. Long ago when I was given permission to prematurely see the battle plans against the Titans, I learned that the Cabin leaders were tracking the Princess Andromeda. Once I became in the know-how, I was given the task to help track it. At night when everyone was sleeping, I was to concentrate on the traitor demigods I befriended during my short stay aboard the ship. Narrowing down on their dreams gave me a general description on where the ship was. A group of demigods would then take a cluster of Pegasi to the area depicted and record their exact coordinates to keep a journal of.

Keeping track of the Princess Andromeda was crucial. The first task in fighting off Kronos was to attack the Princess Andromeda and destroy it; the plan was to kill off as much of Kronos' army before the actual fighting began. Beckendorf and Percy volunteered for this task. Beckendorf was the best with creating explosives and setting up traps; Percy would be able to find the ship without a hitch.

It would be dangerous. There was a chance that neither of them would return to Camp. So many things could go wrong. Kronos could catch them; the explosives could go off while they were still on the ship; even if they got away, Kronos' army could get to Percy and Beckendorf while they were still out of the protection of Camp. When the plans were finalized, Annabeth and Silena walked around Camp in a daze, mentally preparing themselves for anything that could happen.

I frowned and Beckendorf's face dropped a little. He placed his calloused hands on my shoulders, "Hey, Vi, don't be like that. Everything's going to be just fine."

Beckendorf was like a brother to everyone at Camp. He was well-natured, kind, and friendly. We became friends quickly and easily, bonding over our shared adoration of just how beautiful the blades of swords were. I admired his ability to forge anything and he admired my ability to fight well…for a girl, of course.

"Just be careful, Beckendorf," I said timidly.

He grinned slightly, straightening up, "I'm always careful, Vi. You know that."

We stared at one another for another moment, until Silena called his name, motioning for him to go over to him. Beckendorf gave me a quick, sibling-like kiss on my forehead before he ran off to see his girlfriend before he left to go on the mission. As I watched Beckendorf and Silena walk off hand in hand, said boy glanced back at me once and smiled.

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I went to bed just shortly after Beckendorf took off, despite it being the middle of the day. I wanted to track him to make sure he was okay. It was a lot harder when people weren't sleeping and in a deep dream. Yet, Beckendorf proved to be a day-dreamer. As he was flying out to swing by to pick up Percy, Beckendorf kept having day dreams about Silena and his friends. It was clear that he was reflecting on his life, in case he wasn't going to make it back home.

As Beckendorf and Percy made it to the ship, the visions kept getting clearer and more vivid. I could see almost every move they made; Percy's small fight with Luke/Kronos and Beckendorf's quick thinking to convince Kronos' henchmen that he hadn't planted the explosives. But it wasn't enough.

The rest of the 'dream' faded out and I was suddenly awake. I was drenched with sweat and Connor was standing over me, looking concerned.

"Are you alright?"

I ignored him and bolted for the bathroom, feeling sick. As I upchucked into a toilet, I knew that Beckendorf was dead. Percy would at least have some chance at surviving, being able to fly through the water fast enough to get away. But Beckendorf stood no chance.

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*Author's Note*

Sorry for the delay. I visited a family friend for a few days. And sorry that it's short, I have other stories I'm thinking about. I'm getting kinda bored with Violet ….

Anyways, reviews are appreciated!

XxSamacoyxX


	9. Chapter 9: Turning Your Back on Humanity

**The first thing anyone could say was, "poor Silena." Yes, the poor girlfriend who devoted so much time to her boyfriend was left alone and in the cold. The second she heard the news, the daughter of Aphrodite broke down into tears and was escorted by a surprisingly gentle Clarisse. Everyone left Percy, grumbling as they went to go back to their activities.**

**While everyone adored Beckendorf, death was normal for a demigod. Monsters were lurking around every corner and you couldn't trust everyone you met…unless you were the child of a non-powerful god, like the children of Aphrodite, for instance. While one would never say it to the goddess' face, it was true; Aphrodite wasn't really that powerful. Now Poseidon, **_**he**_** was powerful.**

**After the news was given, I watched Silena and Clarisse walk off, Silena's shoulders stuttering as she cried. I felt a pang of sorrow for the distraught girl, but then I remembered a dream I had a few weeks ago; Silena was acting very suspicious and talking to an unknown person. I couldn't understand what she was talking about or see the person she was talking to, but I knew she was up to no good. Since then, I'd been keeping tabs on the girl, jumping into her dreams as much as possible.**

**I turned to make eye contact with Percy who was frowning deeply and eyes smoldered with guilt. I strode up to him, placing a comforting hand on his arm. "It's not your fault Percy. He stood no chance either way."**

**He frowned even more, "How do you know?"**

"**I was watching."**

**Percy's eyes raised, but he didn't press on. Instead, he seemed to become more defeated. "If I'd stayed with him-"**

"**You'd be dead, too. Beckendorf died a hero and for the greater cause; you're the only hope for a lot of people, Percy, it wouldn't be good for you to be dead as well."**

**We made eye contact for a brief moment. A thousand emotions were reading in his eyes and I had the sudden urge to hug him.**

**Slowly, Percy nodded and walked off in the other direction, running his hand through his hair. Annabeth quickly ran up to him, placing a comforting hand on his back and guiding him towards his Cabin. Michael slowly walked up to me, his hands in his pockets.**

"**Hey," he said. **

"**Hey," I said.**

"**Did you know that he was going to die," he asked causally, as if he was asking about the weather. **

**Slowly, I nodded. Michael's lip trembled for half a second and his expression became withdrawn. "When did you know?"**

"**I had suspicions since I learned what he and Percy were going to do…but I didn't know that he'd died until last night; I was tracking them when I was dreaming." **

**Michael's eyes flash. Then, he nodded and removed his hands from his pockets. He walked straight up to me and held my hands. **

"**I know you and Beckendorf were close, Vi. I'm sorry."**

**I nodded, tears forming at the corners of my eyes, but I muttered, "It's okay. We'll all see him one day."**

**Together, Michael and I walked off to the archery arena, the one thing that could bring the both of us out of our stupor. Archery was something we were both good at and liked; it was possibly the best thing at Camp, if you don't count the food.**

**Along the way, we came across some of Michael's siblings squabbling with a couple children of Ares. Kayla was in the face of Clarisse's brother Jack, who was a giant compared to the tiny girl. "What in the hell are they fighting about?"**

**Michael rolled his eyes as we entered the arena and left the fighting demigods behind. He picked up a bow, some arrows and began firing off; he hit each bullseye with barely a glance at the targets. **

"**That stupid flying chariot."**

**I also picked up a bow and cocked it; I hit the bullseye with almost the same precision as Michael; I was less than half an inch off from the exact middle. I may be good, but I'm no child of Apollo. He grinned at me, but that didn't reach his eyes. Using my abilities, I could tell that Michael wanted that chariot as much as his stupid brothers and sisters.**

**I sighed heavily and tried to not look down at the arrows sprawled out on the ground; if I did, I'd start to wonder which ones were handcrafted by Beckendorf. Quickly, Michael put down the bow and jogged over to me, wrapping me awkwardly in a hug (I was still holding the bow). "It's okay, Vi. I'm still here."**

**Tears sprung up to my eyes again. Aphrodite's advice and words swarm through my head. 'It would be better if Michael and I weren't a couple.' The look in her eye when she'd said it…I knew it was bad. Not like we'd have a simple disagreement. If gods slept, I would've gone crazy over Aphrodite's dreams and figured out what she was talking about, but I had no clues except my dream about the blue eyed boy.**

**Michael pulled out of the hug after a minute and we could hear loud shouts erupting from beyond the trees; sounds like the fighting was getting a little more heated. Michael and I clasped hands again, walking wordlessly back out of the arena and into the main camp.**

**A while later, Michael had ditched me at the Hermes cabin to join the shouting match between the Apollo and Ares cabins after it got rough. His sister Kayla rushed to where we sat on the beach, breaking up our couple time. Kayla stated that things were getting physical and they needed Michael to help sort things out.**

**Of course, Michael would not let his siblings down. After giving me a quick peck on the cheek, he ran after Kayla in the direction of the Cabins. I sat on the beach, watching the naiads play in the water, for quite some time. After the sun began to set, I decided to head to the Hermes Cabin to settle in for the night. Whistling and swinging my arms as I walked, I left the beach and pushed my way through trees and into the main Camp clearing.**

**Apollo demigods were nowhere in sight, but Clarisse and her siblings were arguing with a large group of angry campers. I frowned and joined a small group that was watching the bickering demigods. **

"**What's going on," I asked Michelle, daughter of Hephaestus.**

"**Clarisse's declared that she and her siblings won't help us fight Kronos." **

"**What?"**

**Michelle's eyes bugged when I suddenly yelped; she stepped back, accidentally knocking into Kurt, son of Hermes. A couple of others turned to look at me curiously at my outburst, but I paid them no attention.**

**I had something more on my mind then what they thought. I pushed my way through the crowd to where Clarisse was having a shouting match against a son of Demeter. Pushing the small boy aside, I ended up directly in front of Clarisse.**

"**Clarisse!" **

**Said girl spun on the spot, expressionless, yet deadly. "What," she snapped.**

"**Why in the hell are you not going to help us fight against Kronos?"**

**Clarisse looked wary for a minute, not something you'd usually see. I was up in her face at the precise moment, but I noticed I was looking into her eyes, rather than up into her eyes; I was tall, but she was taller. Immediately, I knew that I'd used my abilities to transform into someone else.**

**Clarisse shook her head and the reproach was back, "Because my siblings and I don't get any respect. And I sure as hell won't get any from you, because your little boyfri-"**

"**No, shut up Clarisse! I don't care what others say about you or your siblings. This isn't about us; it's about the entire world, here! Do you want innocent people to die? Because if you don't help us-if Kronos wins, you can consider everyone dead…or at least, better off dead."**

**I was fully aware that the shouting demigods quieted as I yelled at Clarisse. However, I paid them no attention, watching carefully as Clarisse mulled that over. After a minute, she frowned. "You know I don't want that, but I am just so sic-"**

"**So you're just going to turn your back on humanity? It's our duty to protect those who can not protect themselves. We are the only ones can save the world, Clarisse! Don't you even care?"**

"**Of course I care! But that's not my point! I hate it that you people just think you can walk around on us! We're more than just bodyguards!"**

**Anger ran threw me. My blood boiled and I felt like hitting Clarisse. All this about a stupid chariot and her claiming that her siblings don't get respect! How can they, when they're always bullying everyone else? But the fact that she's just going to practically sign over all the world to a death sentence? They're better off dead then what Kronos will do to them!**

**I wasn't aware I pushed Clarisse until my hands left her shoulders and she took a step back, a look of surprise and shock on her face. **

"**If you refuse to join us in our fight against Kronos, go ahead; be my guest. But don't expect to be friends of the gods, Clarisse. They don't tolerate betrayal neatly. Better yet, don't expect to be my friend; if you don't help us take down the Titans, **_**you will be better off dead when I get hold of you."**_

_**I spun on the spot and pushed my way out of the crowd, storming off to the Hermes cabin. People parted way when I walked by, watching me wordlessly. Some had a look of fear in their eyes; others had respect in theirs. Me? I had tears.**_

_***Author's Note***_

_**Okay…sorry about not updating a lot, even though I said I would. I'm just getting caught up in stuff; work, worrying about my senior year of high school, writing new fan fictions because I'm sick and tired of Violet. Anyway, I'll try and be better…**_

_**XxSamacoyxX**_

_**PS: Vielen Dank für das Überprüfen von und zu lesen! German and sign language are the only foreign languages I know, so I don't know how to say "Thank you for reviewing and reading," in another language…sorry.**_


	10. Chapter 10: Setting Out and Setting Free

"Violet."

I turned from my position on the Hermes Cabin floor, where I was polishing my sword. Michael stood in the doorway, bow slung over his shoulder. His face was serious and emotionless.

"It's time."

I paused as I went to swipe the blade with the polishing rag. Travis and Connor looked up from where they sat on Connor's bunk, going over plans for a new prank. The seven others in the bunk also became quiet, no longer chatting excitedly over an upcoming game of Capture the Flag.

Slowly, I stood, keeping eye contact with Michael.

"Are you sure?"

He nodded. "Annabeth got the call from Percy."

I paused for a moment then nodded. I transformed my sword back into the bracelet it posed as and snatched my amulet off of my sleeping bag, pulling it over my head and rushed out of the cabin, the others right behind me. As soon as I stepped out of the Cabin, I got lost in a parade of demigods leaving their respective cabins and rushing to the Big House. I spun around, looking for Michael, but said boy gripped my hand.

I looked around desperately, hoping to catch a glimpse of Clarisse and her siblings, but they were nowhere in sight. Anger ran threw me; I'd hoped so dearly that Clarisse would have changed her mind after I yelled at her. Michael squeezed my hand and gave me a small smile. I had to look away from him. Thoughts of Aphrodite's warning words swarm into my mind.

We stopped in front of the Big House. Mr. D was noticeably absent; he never left unless it was urgent. We knew that the gods would take off to fight their own battles, but we didn't expect the War to come so quickly. Chiron stood in front of us, massive and sporting a bow strapped to his back. He grimaced at each one of us, a look of sadness gracing his features.

"You all know that we've been called to Manhattan to fight off Kronos and his followers, as the gods will be unable to apprehend the Titans," he called out loudly. "You all know the odds and the consequences for fighting with us…" he trailed off.

I watched Chiron closely as he swallowed hard. Tears rimmed his eyes, which were shining with an emotion I didn't recognize. Looking around at my fellow demigods, I saw mixed emotions. Some kids looked scared out of their minds, too young to process what was about to happen. Others looked haughty and proud, like this was our golden moment. My eyes drifted longer on the couples pointedly squeezing hands, much like Michael and I were doing.

"Some of you will not make it back to Camp," Chiron continued. "We will be outnumbered. There are gods on Kronos' side-we will have to fight twice as hard if we wish to be effective."

I snapped my gaze away from a young girl to Chiron's face; he was staring directly at me. Immediately, thoughts of my father drifted back to me. There was no doubt that I could take down my father when it was just the two of us. Constant practice and the reassurance of several gods who came to visit solely me planted that into my mind to the point where there is almost no other option.

But Morpheus has more physical advantages than me. For one, he has Kronos' protection. Dozens of monsters and traitor demigods would be protecting him, making sure that I would not be able to overthrow him. I was a threat to the Titans; overthrow the god of dreams, nothing will stop me from tampering with their army's minds. I would be able to access all of their dreams and in turn access their subconscious and force them to make decisions at my will; Hera had personally visited Camp to teach me how to control this power.

I would be fighting my father alone; it would simply be too dangerous to involve my fellow Campers. Things could get quite ugly quite fast. My father had a vengeance against me and would not give up his seat as the god of dreams easily, especially to someone who's destiny was to help him overthrow the gods, but turned on that destiny.

Chiron promised, however, that he would personally see to that the majority of demigods and monsters would be brought down before they can assist my father in our fight.

"I wish you all luck. Your parents will be so proud of you…as they should," Chiron rounded off. He looked over us for a last brief moment and turned away, cantering off to make sure the vans were ready to ship us off to Manhattan to meet with Percy.

Annabeth stumbled over to where Michael and I stood, looking a little sick. Campers dispersed, gathering last minute weapons and armor. Children of Apollo were shoving arrows into backpacks; daughters of Aphrodite were running around, giving others proper armor. Sons of Hephaestus were making sure their swords were sharpened; children of Athena were going over last minute battle strategies.

Looking past Annabeth, I caught a glimpse of Clarisse walking from the fighting arena to her Cabin in tow with two of her brothers, both of whom were looking at the others prepare with a longing expression on their faces. I knew better than anyone that every single person in the Ares Cabin wanted to help fight against the Titans; Clarisse was just too pig-headed to swallow her pride.

Clarisse opened her mouth to speak, but I turned my attention away from her quickly and back to Annabeth. Said girl was pale and looked as if she need a good toilet to throw up in.

"Are you alright, 'Beth?"

Annabeth's eyes shifted to mine. Of course she wasn't alright; we are about to fight a war for the god's sakes. We would go up against the Titans and their army, which was a lot bigger than ours. How many friends will we lose?

Annabeth shook her head and rubbed her temples. "I just can't believe it's actually time. A part of me was hoping that we'd never have to fight Kronos." A couple of Annabeth's siblings came out of nowhere and led said girl away, rubbing her back soothingly and talking in low voices. Annabeth nodded as one of her sisters whispered in her ear.

I sat watching Annabeth for a moment until Michael brought my attention back to him by giving me a tight squeeze of the hand. I snapped my head back to him to find Michael smiling sweetly and rubbing his thumb over my knuckles.

"Everything will be okay, Vi. Just have a little faith."

Michael pulled me closer to him and stretched up, giving me a light, yet loving kiss on the lips. The sparks set off, like every time we kissed. How in the world could Michael not be the one for me? Had Aphrodite been mistaken? Did she think I was someone else?

We pulled away and smiled. Here and now was Heaven. Sure, we were about to go into battle against the strongest beings in the world, but I had my Michael; I felt so safe around him, even if I was taller. There was just something about Michael that made me tick; he was perfect in every way.

Michael was always kind. He had a little too much pride and was constantly bumping heads with Clarisse and all of her siblings, but Michael generally kept peace amongst the Camp. He was always the first to insist that we stand together, or we'd fall apart.

Michael glanced off to the side where his siblings stood in a circle, watching us with mild interest. He grimaced and turned back to me.

"My brothers and sisters want me to join them. I'll be back in just a minute," he announced. I nodded once and he quickly ran over to his waiting Cabin mates. I stood awkwardly where he left me, demigods rushing around me. I could hear someone crying and another person comforting them.

"What if we all die? I don't want to die!"

"Don't say that! We're going to be fine!"

I closed my eyes tightly and blocked out the conversation. Immediately, I tried using my abilities to get into someone's mind who wasn't as worried about going into War. What I needed right now was positive thoughts. Everyone's thoughts I came across were dark, fearful, and worrisome.

'_I wonder if it'll hurt to die.'_

'_Will anyone miss me when I'm gone?'_

'_Oh please let it be quick when I die. I don't want to suffer.'_

_Scrunching up my face, I wiped away all of the thoughts away and dragged myself out of the others' train of thoughts. I forced myself to enter the Dream World where my prisoners were still being held. Josie sat on the white ground with the other captives, picking at her shoe laces with a bored expression. She didn't even look up to glare at me when I fully entered the Dream World; she knew it would do no good._

"_Josie?"_

_Her head snapped up and she regarded me with intrigue; I never started the conversations between us. Usually, it was her insulting me and declaring that Kronos would win the war._

"_Have you given thought to the offer that Chiron and I are making? The one we gave to Ryan?"_

_For a while now, Ryan's been out of the Dream World and walking free, as long as he fights with us and not for Kronos. Ryan's not a bad kid, unlike the other traitor demigods; he actually believed that Kronos wouldn't hurt the mortals and leave the human world as is. Now that we've opened his eyes a little, Ryan's came around to agreeing that he'd fight for the gods. Right after convincing Ryan, Chiron and I've been trying to break Josie down too._

_Said girl pursed her lips and frowned for a minute, contemplating. The other prisoners watched her carefully, as if daring her to join our side. Finally, Josie slowly nodded. _

"_I don't want to be stuck here anymore."_

_Carefully I asked, "Do you believe in our cause?"_

_For another moment, Josie stayed quiet, thinking this over. "I'm not sure. My father's told me since I was a little girl that Kronos would save the humans and give us demigods more rights in the world. But…I don't really know anymore."_

_I smiled dryly, "The only thing the humans need to be saved from is Kronos."_

_A prisoner with flaming red hair jumped up from where she sat and rushed up to me, getting into my face like Josie used to when she was first trapped. "Kronos is the greatest leader of all time! He will crush your pathetic gods!"_

_Josie rolled her eyes, "There's no point in trying to fight her, Virginia. This is her world, not yours; she'll always win." _

_The redhead turned around on the spot and started yelling at my cousin. "You've gone soft! You've dedicated yourself to Kronos since you were just a toddler! You're going to just turn your back on him now? When he needs us most?"_

_Josie jumped up too, a look of anger crossing her features. "I didn't know any better! Our parents were the only ones giving us information; we haven't seen the other side! Maybe Violet's right! Maybe Kronos will kill all the mortals!"_

"_Better them than us," Virginia spit. "They are nothing; they don't even have any powers!"_

_Josie's anger disappeared. Instead, her expression was one of hurt and betrayal. "It's the demigod's duty to protect the mortals. The whole reason we exist is to keep them safe from what they can not fight!"_

_Virginia shook her head and walked back over to the group of prisoners, muttering something inaudible under her breath. Josie turned her attention to me, looking weak._

"_I'm not saying that I believe you when you say Kronos will kill the mortals…but I want to see the other side to this. I want to see it from your point of view."_

_I grimaced, "I'm afraid there won't be time for that. We're going to leave to go into War any minute now. You'll just have to trust us…just like I'll be trusting you."_

_Josie seemed shocked and I could appreciate that. I've thought over this a lot. If I let Josie out right now, there'd be a chance that she runs to Kronos when we go into battle and I'd have to end up fighting her in the midst of War. But that's something I could handle. I've expanded my powers and I could easily track her and drag her back into the Dream World where she wouldn't be able to do any damage. Same goes for Ryan._

_After having a staring contest for a minute, Josie finally seemed to recover from her shock and nodded slowly. "You have my word; I will not join Kronos if it means I get to live."_

_A split second later, I was out of the Dream World and opening my eyes. Barely a moment had passed from when I'd shut my eyes; everyone was in the exact position they'd been in when I entered the Dream World. The only difference? Josie was standing in front of me, looking stunned again._

_Her eyes widened as she looked around Camp and the demigods getting ready for battle. She eyed Ryan who was talking to Chiron on the steps of the Big House; he was still a scrawny little thing, but he at least looked tough with his sword at his side. Josie snapped her face back to me._

"_I'm really out? No more white?"_

_I laughed heartily and nodded as Michael ran back over from where he was talking with his siblings. Giving Josie the strangest look I've ever seen, he raised his eyebrows at me._

"_You're really going to trust her?"_

_I shrugged and he seemed to accept that as a fine answer. "How good are you at fighting, Jo?"_

_Said girl shrugged, "My father never wanted me to learn to fight as a regular demigod; he wanted all of my fighting to be based on my abilities."_

_Michael nodded swiftly, "Then we'll have all of your fighting be done with your abilities. I think you and Ryan should stick with Violet during the War; you'll all get a lot more done if you're working together."_

_As if on cue, Ryan appeared on my right. He was smiling, but seemingly in shock. "Josie? She actually let you out?"_

_Chiron came right up from behind Ryan, talking before Josie had the chance to speak._

"_Are you sure about this Violet?"_

"_No…but we don't have a lot of options right now."_

_Chiron's jaw tightened, but he didn't object. Instead, he turned away and called for everyone's attention; immediately, chatting ceased and demigods stopped running around._

"_It's time," he announced. "If you will all head to Half Blood Hill, we have vans waiting to take all of you to Manhattan to prepare for battle."_

_No one moved for a minute, taking in the finality of his words; this was it. A million emotions flashed across everyone's faces before they took on one last expression. Together as one, the few of us willing to fight traveled up Half Blood Hill and began to pile into the waiting vans disguised as strawberry transportation. I sat with Michael, Josie, Ryan, Annabeth and several other demigods whom I never really bothered to learn their names._

_As the doors closed and the van started, I realized the look on everyone's faces. Determination. We wouldn't let man kind down-we couldn't let them down. We were their only hope.__

_*Author's Note*_

_First and foremost, sorry this chapter sucks. Towards the end of it, I just wanted to end it so I can get a head start on the good stuff: a new story I'm making. Don't worry, I'm going to finish Sleepyhead, I'm just excited to start working on the next story (one that does not involve Violet, whom I'm getting completely bored with). _

_Secondly, sorry I keep taking forever to update. Between work, friends, graduation parties, and family time, I have a hard time getting the inspiration to write something I'm not interested in anymore. I love Percy Jackson and the Olympians still, but I've gone through the storyline for Street Rat/Sleepyhead so much that I just can't get excited about Violet anymore. I'll try and get excited for the last few chapters, though._

_But like I said, I'm working on a new story! Only my friend Becca has a faint idea what the story is about (very, very faint), although you guys won't find out for a little bit. _

_Anyway, I really appreciate all of the support my loyal readers have given me with these past two stories. They're my first fan fiction, so it means a lot that you guys actually thought they were even worthy enough to glance at. They aren't nearly as good as my "real" (original) stories, but that's only because there's only so much I can make up in a story based on someone else's writing. Then again, I don't like my writing at all, so it doesn't really matter._

_But thanks again, especially to Katoo, my very loyal reader (who gets first dibs on first chapters from new stories). It really means a lot to me. Reviews are nice, especially since no one reviews for Sleepyhead; I always had a lot for Street Rat, which helped me with constructive criticism and making me feel inspired. I'm starting to think no one likes Sleephead._

_XxSamacoyxX _


	11. Chapter 11: The Sandman Strikes Again

The only noise was the occasional sniffles and crying from younger demigods. Sometimes, a demigod would accidentally be elbowed or kicked and there would be muttered apologies. The only other sound was the van's engine.

All of the remaining demigods from Camp who were willing to fight (except the Ares Cabin) were crammed into three vans that the Camp used to help keep up the ruse that we were a strawberry farm. We were all practically sitting on top of one another and it was hot. We were dripping sweat and feeling claustrophobic; there was no light and I had a difficult time sitting in the dark for too long.

Michael sat next to me, clutching my hand tightly the entire time. I could feel the anxiousness radiating off of him and did my best to fill his mind with daydreams that would calm him; I tried to do so for all of the demigods. It was easier to give everyone in the van I was in nice thoughts, but I struggled to help the other two van full of demigods. I could do so, but it was a strain.

The sand was in-between our toes as we stood at the edge of the Ocean, the gentle waves striking the shore. The water flowed over our feet, up to our ankles; it felt so good. The water was just perfect for a hot day like this, cold and refreshing. In sync, we dived into the water, letting the cold run over our bodies. It was heaven. Opening our eyes, we could see schools of colorful fish jetting on the Ocean floor in a group of beautiful dolphins. We laughed and burst to the surface.

The vans came to a sudden stop. The doors opened and the Manhattan day burst into the small, dark compartment. I had to strain my eyes as we got out of the van, jumping down to let my feet hit the pavement. Michael and I did not let go of one another's hand as we got out of the van.

Percy was waiting for us right outside the Empire State Building. He looked grim, which he had every right to. He didn't look any different, but I could sense someone was off with him. As soon as we were all out of the vans, we all just kinda stood in front of him, unsure as what to do next. A woman passing with a baby in a stroller gave us a dirty look and rushed by; I could tell she thought we were hoodlums or something. But really? How could Chiron-who was in his wheelchair-be a threat to her?

Percy spoke up, "Okay, like I told Annabeth on the phone, something bad is going to happen by tonight. Some kind of trap. We've got to get an audience with Zeus and convince him to defend the city. Remember, we can't take no for an answer."

He then talked to Argus and Chiron for a minute, before he announced it was time to head up to Olympus. Apparently the gods think hiding a mystical world inside a popular tourist attraction is a good idea, because to get to Olympus, you have to take an elevator ride in the Empire State Building. Some security guard was sitting behind a big desk and surveyed us as we stumbled in.

"School group? We're about to close up," he said. I know he can see through the Mist; he was eyeing Percy's sword as we walked in.

"No," Percy commanded, "Six-hundredth floor."

The security guard looked at each of us closely. His blue eyes strolled our faces and weapons, quickly taking in our appearances and making assumptions. Using my abilities to get in his mind, I knew he wasn't intimidated by us; he'd seen more monsters than the average mortal.

"There is no six-hundredth floor, kid," he mocked Percy, "Move along."

Percy's face tightened and he leaned in, muttering something to the security guard that I couldn't hear. After a moment, the guard hit a button and the gate swung open. Percy motioned for us to follow him to the elevator. We went up in groups of two. I crammed into the first group along with Michael, Annabeth and Percy, and several others. "Stayin' Alive" by the Bee Gees. The others looked revolted; I had the urge to dance.

The doors 'dinged,' opened, and I stopped dancing. I'd visited Olympus just once in person, but I'd seen it countless times in dreams and when tracking Morpheus. It was insanely beautiful. Mansions, gardens, mountains and a huge palace where the Twelve Olympians resided (primarily). As we walked across the floating stone path from the elevators to Olympus, I looked down at Manhattan below us. It was like looking at ants.

Michael and I held hands as we walked in the street up to the big palace. A naiad was standing in the doorway of a shop, arms crossed and a scowl on her pretty face. She nodded to us as we passed, backing into the shop and closed the door shut.

Suddenly, blue lights streaked the sky. My company of demigods immediately started panicking. "What is that," yelled Pollux.

We didn't have time to sit and figure out what it was. We scurried up the mountain and into the hall of the gods. Usually, there were others guarding the place, making sure no one could get to the Olympians without an invitation. Seeing as a war was about to begin, the place was abandoned.

We burst into the throne room. The place was empty except for a sea cow in a floating water bubble and a woman at the Hearth in the center of the room. She looked up and smiled, the fire dancing in her eyes.

"Hello again, Percy Jackson. You and your friends are welcome." Our eyes met and her smile got larger,

Percy and I bowed at the same time, "Lady Hestia." Our fellow demigods followed suit and bowed quickly. Hestia's eyes narrowed at Percy.

"I see you went through with your plan. You bear the curse of Achilles," she stated matter-of-factly. Mentally I slapped myself. Of course-I'd heard his and Nico's plan when I was eavesdropping on his daydreams once, but I never thought he'd actually go through with it; it's just plain stupid.

Percy fell to the ground. Annabeth reached out and grabbed his arms before he could actually collide with the floor. He had a muttered conversation with Annabeth quickly and quietly. Percy whipped his head around to look at us, but I was too busy staring at Hestia to notice him. Said goddess locked eyes with me and smiled.

Percy spoke up again, "Um, Lady Hestia, we've come on urgent business. We need to see-"

"We know what you need." A young man shimmered right next to Hestia. The two snakes wrapped around his staff and previous visions of Mount Olymps gave me enough information to know that this was Hermes, the God of Messengers.

"I will leave you now," Hestia said, bowing to Hermes.

"Wait, Lady Hestia, I was wondering if I could speak with you for a moment." Hestia looked up at me, somewhat surprised. She, however, nodded.

Hestia stalked out of the throne room and outside, the demigods departing to let her through. I followed behind her. Once outside the room, Hestia turned casually.

"Is this about how you refuse to heed Aphrodite's warning?"

"Aphrodite doesn't decide my destiny."

"No, but she's typically correct about her assumptions about your future."

I frowned and looked into Hestia's warm eyes. "Are you suggesting as well that Michael is not right for me."

"That would be correct."

My breathing stopped for a moment and I looked away from Hestia, who immediately started rubbing my shoulder soothingly.

"But why is Michael bad for me? I mean…does he cheat on me? Does he pledge his allegiance to Kronos? What?"

Hestia smiled motherly, "He doesn't do anything he can't help, girl. Michael loves you very much, the world is just out of his control."

"What's that mean?"

"I think you know what that means, Violet."

We were silent for a moment, me avoiding Hestia's flaming eyes. She was kind and her warm face was showing me that she didn't want to hurt my feelings, but I couldn't help the pain sensation in the pit of my stomach.

Michael was going to hurt me, unintentionally and something out of his control, but it was going to happen one way or another. He loved me and I love him, but that wasn't enough when it came to destiny.

"Can you answer me one question, then," I asked Hestia. She raised her eyebrows, looking a smidge anxious.

"That depends. What is the question?"

"Who am I meant to be with?"

Hestia chuckled and shook her head. "I honestly don't know. Only Aphrodite does. I know you had a dream about a boy, but there's no way of knowing who he is. You may be able to control the dream world, but not even you can understand the complete depths of dreams."

I digested this for a moment and was prepared to ask Hestia something else, but Annabeth suddenly came running up to us. "Violet, you have to see this!"

Together, the two of us ran off to the sky deck to look below at Manhattan. I looked back at Hestia, but she was gone. All of the demigods were surrounding the sky deck, looking down at the town. "What's going on," I asked Michael as I stood next to him.

He shook his head, "I don't know, but look." He handed me binoculars. I took them gingerly and peered down at the city.

Everyone was asleep. Every single person was passed out either on the sidewalk or in parked cars; it's like they all just suddenly decided to drop everything and take a nap. My first reaction was to be perplexed, naturally, but then I got a nasty feeling in the pit of my stomach. After a second, I could see sand swirling around with the wind.

"It's Morpheus."

A few demigods' heads snapped in my direction, eyebrows raised, excluding Ryan and Josie. Michael frowned.

"How? Morpheus is simply the God of Dreams; Hypnos is the God of Sleep."

"You don't think I know that? But trust me, this is the work of Morpheus."

Connor Stoll chimed in, "How do you know that?"

Josie rolled her eyes and dropped her binoculars to the ground, turning to face us all. "Just believe, Violet. It is Morpheus. We can tell by the sand left behind. When gods use their abilities, they always leave a little evidence that gods and the children of the specific god can see. When Morpheus uses his abilities, there's sand left behind."

Michael's eyes met mine for a brief second, and then he turned his attention back to Manhattan. "Alright, so Morpheus put all of Manhattan to sleep. But why?"

I shook my head, glancing back down at the sleeping city. "Because the fight is about to start."

*Author's Note*

So, this took a while to finish this chapter up and I made up a whole bunch of crap that isn't in the original series, but you'll just have to live with it. I've been busy with writing a new story, work, family drama, crap like that.

Anyway, I'd really appreciate if I could get some dang reviews once in a while…

XxSamacoyxX


	12. Chapter 12: Out Of His Control

"Hey! Violet! Look at me; I'm going to fall!"

I wanted to punch Percy Jackson in the face. Naturally, he split us all up to cover Manhattan as we wait for Kronos and his army attack. Like most people would have done, he kept Cabins together. And that's where he went wrong. How in the world could you just allow the Aphrodite and Hermes Cabins go off on their own? Doesn't he realize you need to have a balanced mixture of Cabins to keep those with shorter attention spans in order?

The Hermes Cabin was split into two, defending two separate bridges; I was with Travis Stoll and his group on the Brooklyn Bridge. Currently, Leslie Boole (daughter of Hebe) and I are going over a map of Manhattan that we found on our way here. It'd been difficult to keep the children of Hermes within our range of sight and not allowing them to duck into stores, but we managed to get to the Brooklyn Bridge without incident.

Except that I have a feeling that the watch around Travis' wrist wasn't there before.

I snapped my head back to see Travis holding onto one of his brothers, pretending that he was about to fall off the bridge and into the East River below. He had a frightened expression on his face, but I could see his siblings fighting back smiles.

"Knock it off Travis! This is serious!"

He rolled his eyes and steadied himself, "You're no fun," he yelled back to me. I turned my back on him once more and peered back down at the map.

"So Connor and the others are here," I pointed to the map. "It's not that far away; we can always group together if there's too many. And then the Apollo Cabin is pretty near too, so we could always see if a couple of them would act as reinforcements."

Leslie nodded and then moved around to tell the others are back up plans. I folded up the map and placed it in my back pocket. "Who decided you're the leader?"

I turned on the spot and immediately backed up; Travis was inches from my face. His usual goofy, happy, elfish features were twisted into an upset frown, something strange for him. His arms were crossed and eyebrows were raised expectantly.

"Someone's got to take responsibility. I figured that if you're not, then I wi-"

"What makes you think I'm not responsible? I was elected leader of the Hermes Cabin! How can I not be responsible if I was asked to lead my cabin?"

I rolled my eyes, "You keep screwing around Travis! You don't take anything seriously, like just ten seconds ago! You may not care enough that we're in the middle of a war, but I'm not going to go down as easily!"

Travis opened his mouth to retaliate, but Leslie was all of a suddenly there between us. "Quit fighting! This is not the time or place to be arguing!" Travis gave me on last scathing look and turned back, stomping over to a small cluster of his brothers and sisters who were watching with rather entertained expressions on their faces.

Why did it always seem like the children of Hermes always got more of a kick out of things than they probably should?

I turned back to Leslie, "I think we should organize ourselves so we line from edge to edge of the bridge. We should try and stay as tight of a line as possible, so there's less room for people to scurry around us." Leslie nodded quickly and began to move around to establish the order of the line; Travis didn't argue, which I silently thanked the gods for.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. A second later, I entered the Dream World. A few of my more defiant captives immediately stood and tensed themselves, but most of them have become accustomed to their "new life." Like Josie and Ryan before them, they realized fighting with me would get them nowhere. Virginia, the fierce daughter of Eros, regarded me coldly, but made no move to stand up to me; Becca, a rather shy and kinder daughter of Nyx, grinned at Virginia with amusement.

"Can we help you," Virginia muttered.

"No, just passing through," I said. The white shifted and the demigods disappeared.

I was looking down at Manhattan, flying over the city like a bird. From this height, I could perfectly see where each cluster of Campers was; it was better than a map.

The sons and daughters of Aphrodite were spraying themselves with designer perfumes and colognes. The children of Athena were anxiously shifting from foot to foot, eyes shifting to dark alleys. The big boys in Hephaestus Cabin were sharpening their swords, sparks flying off of the blades. The Hunters of Artemis stood in a tight circle, holding one another's hands and saying a quick prayer to their goddess. Offspring of Demeter were nervously making small plants sprout up from under the cement. Kids of Apollo were the only ones who seemed collective, calmly standing with their bows strung on their backs.

I pulled my attention away from the groups of Campers and zeroed in on a massive army marching from several different sides of the city; one of the largest groups of demigods and dracaena were heading straight for the Brooklyn Bridge and quickly.

I pulled my mind back to the physical me and my group. The group was lined up, shields and swords at the ready; Travis and Leslie were looking at me expectantly.

"They're going to be here any minute," I announced. They nodded once but visibly tensed. Leslie and Travis gazed over the bridge to watch the horizon. I joined them at the front of the line, transforming my sword and shield; I watched the direction the "soldiers" were coming from.

It was about two minutes later that you could see them marching on the horizon. One continuous black line was traveling closer and closer; they were only a couple hundred yards away when I could begin to make out faces and individuals, not that I wanted to. Remembering that those you're fighting are like you will only make you lose; you must pretend that they're without faces and have no names. That, or you'll falter.

Travis patted me on the shoulder, making me turn around to look at him. He was no longer the happy go lucky kid like back at Camp or even the one ticked that I was taking lead over his Cabin. Travis had fear in his eyes, although he had his other features arranged to put on a brave face. "Good luck," he muttered. I nodded in return and snapped my head back to watch the oncoming army.

Well, the portion of the army Kronos sent to try and push their way into this area of the city.

One breath. Two breaths. Three breaths. The line of Kronos soldiers finally reached us. Four breaths. Five breaths. Clang of swords. We spring into action. My fellow Hermes Campers and I are charging at the enemy, swords raised eye into the air and cries issuing from our mouths.

I immediately meet a girl with a long, blonde plait with bright blue eyes; she looks fierce and tough, but I take her down with one easy swipe to the legs. The girl buckles to her knees and hits pavement. In less than the ten seconds we've been fighting, I step over my first defeat and move onto the next. All the while, I'm careful to not look into their eyes and see the human in them.

I wove in and out of fighting demigods. I attempted to help my fellow Campers when they were losing their respective fights, but there was only so much I could do. There were several different demigods attacking me every couple of seconds, and although I could easily take them down, it was taking up all of my attention. But the battle didn't last long.

There were more opposing soldiers than our small group of Campers, but we somehow brought them down quickly; only Lisa, one of Hermes' daughters, was injured enough to have to sit out. Two unclaimed Campers helped her limp back to the main group, who were using the Plaza Hotel at "official" headquarters, to get her some help from one of the Apollo demigods.

The rest of us stayed at the Brooklyn Bridge, tying up those who were too hurt or too exhausted or too embarrassed to run back to Kronos after we kicked their sorry butts. There were only a few who were taken prisoner forcibly, sans a son of Mnemosyne, who surrendered to us within just a few minutes of fighting, too weak to take us on and win; he was currently sitting in-between Travis and Ryan, being watched carefully to make sure he didn't suddenly attack or run off.

I looked out over the water as the morning sun began to rise, Josie standing causally at my side. She didn't have enough time to train properly for a sword on sword battle; I'd only released her from the Dream World minutes before we loaded up into the vans for Manhattan, but she proved to me useful. While Josie and Ryan didn't have nearly as much power as I did in my abilities (given Morpheus is a smidge more important that Phobetor and Phantasos), they had abilities beyond a normal demigod.

Like me, they could get into other peoples' heads; within seconds, they could figure out your greatest weakness, biggest dream, and most dominant fear. Josie and Ryan could play with that and make you see almost anything they wanted you to see. While we were in the middle of battle, they were messing with the opposing demigods' minds, creating their biggest fears and bringing them to life. Once or twice, I saw clowns and large dogs appear out of thin air, scaring the crap out of a couple of the younger demigods. Occasionally, more complex fears appeared, lashing out against certain people, like fighting parents. It wouldn't detour the fighters for long, but it was enough to distract them.

I personally didn't use my abilities that often. Sometimes I would force myself to get into someone's head, to see what was bothering them and how to help, or I would enter the Dream World to browse daydreams to see what my fellow Campers (or enemies) were up to. It was a useful ability, as I was able to let Percy and the others know some of Kronos' battle strategies, but it seemed more like a hinder than a help.

Chiron was the first to help me learn to expand my powers. Before I'd learned I was a demigod, I had nearly *no* abilities, thanks to the fact that I'd never thought of myself as something special. But after I learned the truth, Chiron and I would often sit together, me learning to concentrate hard enough to enter the Dream World and effect those around me. Soon, I had several of my friends helping me to learn the full extent of my gifts; just sword fighting showed me how my powers worked.

Time seemingly slowed down when I fought. My surroundings disappeared and all I could see was who I was fighting, in which they moved very slowly and then I could suddenly, I could see their future movements. I'm not sure how I can see their fighting stances before they do them, but I can. Time went back to normal and I could counter their attack before they had a chance to initiate them.

This was the point in time when I learned how to get into someone's head. I just concentrate a little, everything goes black, and bam! I'm in their mind. Memories, thoughts, likes, dislikes, anything that pertains to the selected person is seen and known; after this small moment, I know everything about them and can use it against them. It's a rather nifty little trick. And apparently, it was Morpheus' specialty.

"Are you okay," Josie asked me quietly.

I snapped my attention away from the river and back to my blonde cousin. She was frowning and looked worried, something I would've never expected to cross her features. Not long ago, Josie was a strong believer in Kronos' cause and swore she'd see the death of me.

"I'm worried."

"About?"

"Michael. I just have a feeling that something bad is going to happen to him."

Josie frowned more and looked over at a struggling POW who was coming to. "There are chances that anyone can get hurt, Violet. You just have to think positive."

I nodded, but didn't feel hopeful. Michael was the one thing I had to keep me sane. If Aphrodite and Hestia were right, I was going to lose Michael, and quick. It's hard to imagine my life without him and I try not to picture a Michaelless world. He and I have only known each other for roughly a year and been dating for that same amount of time, but I know we have something more than just a typical relationship.

We have no secrets in our relationship. Given that I can get into his head and reveal his secrets, Michael knows it's pointless to keep them; to give him the same respect, I tell him everything about me. Except what Aphrodite told me. That just felt like something I shouldn't tell.

Josie opened her mouth to say more, but suddenly, a girl with short black hair from the Hermes Cabin was running up to us. She put her hands on her knees to catch her breath and after a minute, she breathed out, "Percy thinks that we should all regroup at Central Park."

Travis and I locked eyes from across the bridge and nodded together; the others stood up from where they sat, gathering their weapons and collecting the prisoners. Ryan and an unclaimed boy named Drake gripped the surrendered demigod by the forearms and dragged him along. Travis and I took lead of the group and walked ahead of them in the direction of Central Park.

It was a bit of a walk, but not too terribly far. Along the way, I'd had to help a limping girl of about thirteen who'd twisted her ankle, but didn't think it was so bad that she'd needed to return earlier with Lisa. Ryan was lecturing the girl about being "stupid" and if she's hurt, she should say so and not risk anything. I tuned the two of them out as they argued back and forth and focused on attempting to track all of the Campers via daydreams.

It was hard to concentrate on specific individuals when I was particularly nervous, but I managed to find small clusters of demigods wandering here and there, making their way to Central Park. Some were looking grim and sad. Immediately, I knew we lost someone, maybe a few people.

Central Park came into view a short time later. I breathed with relief as we inched closer and closer to the Plaza. A couple sons of Hephaestus were standing outside the front doors, acting as makeshift bodyguards for the injured inside. We strolled past them and helped the hurt girl to a couch; immediately, a daughter of Apollo named Stephanie rushed over and checked over her ankle. The girl had been wrong-it wasn't twisted. It was sprained. She was insisting that she'd be able to fight when we got back at it, but I doubted that Percy would let her fight if she was hurt; we didn't want people more messed up than they already were.

I left the girl and Stephanie, who was trying to convince her to stay sitting and not walk on her injured ankle, and set off around the hotel to find Michael. I hadn't seen his face in a few hours and I was anxious to make sure that he was indeed okay.

I popped into several different rooms. Some were empty, some held hurt demigods who needed to rest. In a few, Campers and Hunters were sharpening blades and fixings broken arrows; in others, some people were simply catching up on some much needed sleep, as we probably won't have a lot of time in the next few days or so to do the task.

In every single room, everyone said they had no clue where Michael was.

Finally, I stumbled upon Percy talking to Thalia. "Percy," I called out to him as I approached.

He looked stressed and worn, despite the fact that we'd begun the war just a few hours ago. His hair was all over the place and he had a very worried look on his face. Thalia, too, looked extremely worried and concerned.

"What's going on? Are you two okay?"

Percy and Thalia glanced at one another before Thalia quietly muttered, "Annabeth's hurt. She was stabbed." They looked back at a closed door, which I assumed Annabeth was behind and getting some help from Apollo demigods.

"Is she going to be okay?"

Thalia nodded, "Yeah, they're patching her up and Will says she'll be fine pretty soon."

I nodded and breathed with relief; Annabeth could be a little much at times, but I counted her as one of my few and closest friends. After a moment, I remember my big worry and the reason I rushed about the Plaza.

"Have either of you two seen Michael? I keep trying to catch his thoughts, but I can't narrow down on him."

Thalia's already upset expression turned to an even more sullen one and she visibly paled. Her lips parted as if to say something, but before words could come out, Percy step-forward and grabbed my arm, leading me to a sofa. I frowned and glanced around; why were other demigods suddenly giving me looks of sympathy and grief?

Percy sat down next to me and Thalia was instantly on the other side, rubbing my back, which made me feel a little uncomfortable as I barely know her, but I didn't want to hurt her feelings and shrug her hand off. I looked into Percy's face expectantly and found sorrow in his.

"I'm not sure how to tell you this, Violet….but Michael was," Percy gulped and took a few seconds to find the right word, "lost."

My heart sank. "What do you mean *lost*?"

"Honey," Thalia said soothingly into my ear, "there was an accident and in the chaos, Michael disappeared. I'm so sorry, but…we don't think he made it."

With one statement, my world came crashing down. My heart exploded and pain overtook my body. I wished that someone would've just killed me in battle so I didn't have to feel this pain at this moment. My Michael, my love, my world, was gone. Without him, I was nothing, I was dead.

Aphrodite's and Hestia's words suddenly made sense. They'd told me that Michael would break my heart, but it wouldn't be intentional and he loved me very much. As most people don't generally get themselves killed on purpose (unless their suicidal, which Michael was a fairly happy kid so I wouldn't see why he felt the need to commit suicide), this was the thing "out of his control."

I was prepared for the moment Michael broke my heart…but I'd hoped it would be that he fell for a girl who was so obviously much better for him than me, not by death. Michael deserved a girl that didn't have a homicidal father on her trail and someone he didn't have to stand on his tippy toes just to kiss, not his murder.

"Violet? Are you okay?"

I looked up at Percy. There was generally concern and mourning in his eyes; who else did he have to break news like this too? How many others died last night? How many other girls are going to be left devastated? Wetness blurred my vision and I scratched at my eyes.

"Do you need to be alone? Do you want to-" I cut Thalia off my standing up abruptly.

"No…I don't need anything!"

Like an stupid person, I began to run off, Percy, Thalia and several other demigods on my heels. I ran down flights of stairs and out of the Plaza, passing the makeshift guards who yelled at me. Percy, Thalia and a few others burst out of the building, yelling at me.

I stopped a few feet from the building; the others stopped at the doorway. Percy's eyes were wide. "Please, just tell us what you need Violet!"

I choked back a sob that threatened to escape. My body was stuttering as I cried and held back a scream I so dearly wanted to release. How could they ask me if I was okay and if there was anything I need? My boyfriend-the only reason I didn't ditch the gods and go back to a life of petty crime- was dead. I loved Michael and look where they got him.

"What I need right now *sob* is to find something and kill it." I stomped away from the Plaza, sword and shield at the ready as I headed off to where I know Kronos has his headquarters for his army.

*Author's Note*

I stayed up all night just so I could finish this chapter because I wanted to have at least one update before I left for a five day camping trip with family and friends. You're welcome.

So…Violet's a little upset. I'm not really good with the whole *emotions* thing, because I'm emotionally dead and I know next to nothing about relationships. I mean, I had an internet boyfriend once upon at time ago, but that's not anything *real.* So…her whole feelings things…totally b.s., yo. But yeah…

I'm super excited for the next chapter! It's by far my favorite (even thought it's still all up here *points to head*)! I think you guys will get a kick out of it too!

Thank you so much for reading and reviewing (love ya!). Please do it more often…especially the reviewing 'cause I never get any anymore! It makes me sad. And I'm holding my friend Becca hostage…if you want her to return to her loving family who very much wants to see her return with all of her limbs, you'll review….for her sake.

XxSamacoyxX


	13. Chapter 13: Stupid Is As Stupid Does

"Should we kill her, my Lord? Before she wakes?"

"No. I wish to leave her for her Father. He will do the honors."

"Do you truly believe that Morpheus will do so? She is the child of his Prophecy."

"I would suggest you not question me, girl. You will do as I say. Make sure she does not break her restraints; I shall send someone to summon Morpheus."

There were footsteps, heavy and distinct a few feet away from me. A door closed and then silence. It was dark, I couldn't see anything, something I was not accustomed to. My eyes were closed and I was immediately aware of the fact, which is why I didn't understand; anytime I closed my eyes, even to blink, I was brought to the Dream World. This was not the Dream World; said thing was white, not black.

"Why are we left to tend her? Can't she kill us," came a shrill girl's voice.

"She's tied up, Minnie! She's not going to do us harm," retorted a boy from somewhere near my head.

"Then why do they fear her? Ethan said something about her overthrowing Morpheus and taking his spot in Olympus!" The fear was evident in the girl's voice.

"Ethan is wrong. If this girl were dangerous to even a god, Kronos would destroy her in an instant."

Mere seconds after Percy and Thalia broke the news that my Michael was gone from me, I decided that a suicide mission was a mighty fine idea. I'd headed to where Kronos and his army where resting during the day on the other side of New York City. Thalia caught up with me not far from the Plaza and attempted to convince me to not do anything stupid.

But stupid is as stupid does.

Thalia was not my friend. I'd only met her once before and that was when Thalia and a couple of Hunters showed up at Camp during the 'school year.' I'd been hyped up to meet her because Annabeth and quite a few others spoke so highly of this girl who'd given up her life to protect her friends. The second we met, however, we immediately butted heads.

She was a Huntress of Artemis, forever pledged to never evolve into the next stage in life: love. That was all fine and dandy, except she knew I loved Michael. Once upon a time, Thalia hated the Hunters and the idea of never having a romantic love. But she naturally became one of them when she joined. Somewhere after becoming a Hunter, Thalia began to distrust romantic love.

End of any kind of friendship.

I didn't stop marching towards Kronos, sword out and ready to kill anything that came too close to comfort. Thalia was willing to attempt to deter me from my course of action until the giants came into sight. At this point in time, Thalia's eyes widened in fear and she asked one last time if I might consider going back to the hotel. One finally time, I declined. She shook her head, muttered a hope I didn't die painfully, and ran back towards the Plaza; back towards our mutual friends.

I infiltrated Kronos' headquarters successfully, crossing the barrier without issue. I immediately attacked the first people I saw and took them out before they could raise the alarm. This was a suicide mission, anyone could plainly see that. I didn't want to die, but it had been a long time since I feared death. I knew what was on the other side and that was Michael-I had nothing left on Earth to keep me here. Somewhere in my mind, this was a good idea, me attacking Kronos' army when they were unaware. I was bound to die during this war anyway, so I might as well make myself useful and take out as many fighters as possible.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. Eleven. Twelve. One dozen opposing demigods that pledged themselves to Kronos were out cold and bleeding on the ground before anyone knew what was happening. Everyone was eating, resting, sharpening weapons, tending to the wounded and mourning their dead. The attack on the twelve demigods was quick, silent, and done in less than twenty seconds.

No one noticed what was happening. No one figured there would be someone brave (stupid) enough to attack them, alone and with only a sword as a weapon. There were dozens more demigods that we had, and many more monsters. With half of our Camp gone because they chose Kronos or where too afraid to return or too pig headed to fight, we stood almost no chance. We had heart, yes, but that wasn't enough in a war with this kind of magnitude.

I glared down at the twelve teens who were lying on the ground, bleeding and dying. Remorse and guilt racked my body as I met eyes with the only girl, whom I recognized from the Princess Andromeda:

"No, no! Ares is the God of War; Apollo is the God of the Sun. This is stuff you need to know," she huffed at me (obviously in this flashback….in case you didn't know).

"Why are there so many A's in Greek Mythology?"

The girl, Lauren, chuckled. "I don't know. But can we please get back on track?"

I stared out over the ledge of the Princess Andromeda, watching a dolphin flip in the Ocean. The wind was blowing softly and the sun was setting. I could hear other demigods fighting and practicing elsewhere on the ship, getting ready for the inevitable war between the Gods and the Titans.

"Who's your parent, Lauren?"

I turned to face her only to see her eyes flash. "Demeter. Why?"

"Why do you fight for Kronos?"

She shrugged, "She….was never there. The second I was born, she left me and my father. While she may be my blood, I feel no kinship with her."

I looked down at my shoes and we sat quietly for a minute together. Finally, she broke the silence. "Now, let's get back to work. Who's the Goddess of the Hunt?"

"Aphrodite?"

I shook my head and strayed away from my flashback. Lauren was watching me silently, grasping her stomach with a grimace on her face.

"I'm sorry, Lauren," I muttered quietly. "I understand why you fight for Kronos…but you must understand why I fight for the Gods."

Slowly, she nodded and opened her mouth to say something, but there was suddenly a scream. The two of us snapped our heads to the end of the alley. A small girl of about twelve was standing in the street, her eyes wide with fear and her sword at the ready in her hands.

"An intruder," she shrieked.

Immediately, I leapt over one of the fallen demigods and sprinted to the other end of the alley, planning on making an escape. But I was cut off by six demigods who appeared out of nowhere, two dozen more behind them. I slashed my sword at the nearest teen and quickly took him down, but the five others rushed me at the same time, bringing down their swords as one.

Someone's blade struck my face, reopening a long scar that I'd received on my cheek by Kayla, a scar very similar to the one Luke bore. Pain shot through my face, but I didn't take the time to worry about it; I hit the nearest kid with my shield and he fell to the ground in a daze. I twirled and stuck out my sword, slashing two of them at the same time in the stomach. The fifth and I engaged in a quick combat, but she went down just as fast as the first five. I looked up to see the other demigods rushing towards me, but I started running in the other direction.

No way could I take two dozen at once. Even if I could see their next moves, it wouldn't make a difference with an staggering amount of them taking me on. I could hear them following me, though. One of them was running very close to me, just a sword's length away from me. As quickly as I could, I got into his mind and pulled out his biggest fear; half a second later, his girlfriend was lying dead on the ground, stopping him in his tracks. I rounded a corner and immediately wished I hadn't.

At least three dozen more demigods and monsters were waiting for me. I was trapped and I knew this was the end of my life. So, I made an even dumber decision than deciding to cross into enemy territory.

I yelled and charged them, my sword raised high.

Surrendering would've been easier. If I did that, they wouldn't have fought me and try and kill me. Perhaps I would have been spared. But I didn't care about my life anymore; all I cared about was my friends. I thought this would perhaps benefit them, as they'd have less people to fight. Yet, I didn't surrender.

The crowd met me with yells and slashes and hits. I was struck dozens of times with blades of swords, my skin cutting open and pain shooting through my body; someone punched me in the head and I had to fight back the urge to grab my aching skull. I kept on fighting, right up until everyone backed away and a big blue giant strode up to me. An instant, I was off the ground and felt weightless and then I crashed right back into cement. I didn't move. I didn't breathe.

Everyone was silent as a small puddle of blood began to swarm into sight; this was a major injury on my part. The pain was unbearable and my body was telling me to sleep, but there was suddenly a figure walking towards me.

Luke….well, Kronos was.

He stopped in front of me and kneeled so his face was all I could see. "Violet, daughter of Morpheus. You're the one Morpheus is so fearful of? Not so scary now, are you?"

Kronos chuckled at his own humor, but I thought I saw a shift in his eyes. As if Luke was somewhere still in there, his eyes changed from gold to blue for a moment. But it didn't last long.

"You've come to infiltrate my army…brave girl. You know, we could've really used you on our side. Guess you're not all that bright if you chose your Gods." He stood up and his voice became louder as he spoke to his minions.

"This is the Daughter of Morpheus, come to die! She was sent by the Gods for a suicide mission. How nice of them to sacrifice her, right?" There were some gasps from a few of the demigods. Instantly, I saw what he was doing. Kronos wanted to make them angrier at the Gods, to make them fight harder and better than before. He said it like I was forced, or something.

He looked down at me with an unreadable expression. "Someone take her to the hotel. Do not tend to her wounds; bind her to a bed with whatever you can find."

We locked eyes for a moment and all I could see was Luke staring down at me, his eyes wide and blue. "I'm so sorry," he muttered before they went back to gold.

At that point, I'd passed out. I have no idea how long I've been out, but the pain suddenly hit me as I opened my eyes. I was lying in a bed, my hands and feet bound to the bedposts with rope, which were cutting into my skin. A boy and girl were standing not far from me, but on opposite sides of the bed. She looked down at me and yelped.

"She's awake! Quick, do something!"

The boy shook his head, grinning. "She can't hurt us Minnie. Look at her! She's bound and she's hurt!"

"But Ethan said-"

"I don't care what Ethan said," he suddenly yelled. The girl flew back with fear and bumped into a desk, falling onto the chair. The boy turned back to me and inched closer.

"Don't worry," he said soothingly. "All the pain will be over soon. You'll be dead and reunited with your fallen friends."

As if on cue, Morpheus and Kronos appeared out of nowhere, standing right in front of the bed. Morpheus had a frown on his face.

"I gave you many opportunities, Violet. I truly did not want to see any of my children die, but you all have given me no choice. I will not let you destroy me, child." He sighed once and then there was a pain worse than I already had.

My cuts, bruises, and aching bones were irrelevant. My entire body was on fire and it felt like my insides were coming out to the surface. There was a high pitched, painful scream erupting from somewhere in the room; it hurt my ears and the sound of it just made me want to die. After a moment, though, I realized it was coming from me.

After just a few seconds, though, an idea struck me. I tried to concentrate, closing my eyes and trying to keep myself from screaming. It was hard to do so, but after a moment, my mind left my body and I was in the Dream World.

Here, I felt no pain. I looked down at myself and here, I was good as new. Victoria looked up at me and sighed. "I was wondering when you were going to show. It's been awhile, you know. Finally decided to take a nap?"

I glared at her and shifted my thoughts to enter the mind of the girl who was in the room where I was dying. Fear raced through her thoughts as she watched my body writher and contort with pain. My body was covered in blood and bruises and the rope cut into my flesh even further. I took a deep breath and forced myself to use a power I'd never attempted before.

Suddenly, I was no longer just seeing from Minnie's point of view. I was Minnie. I had full control of her body, her movements, her mind. My body on the bed suddenly stopped, void of any mind; until I left Minnie's mind, my body would simply be an empty shell.

Researching through old Greek history, I read about one man who recounted that Hypnos, my grandfather, had manifested himself in a mortal's body. He had full control over the mortal because they'd been daydreaming, a slight consideration of sleep. This was only a snippet and as far as I could recall, Hypnos was the first and last God to possess someone.

And I was the first demigod to do so.

Morpheus shook his head, seemingly ending his tirade on my body. Kronos turned to him, "Well?"

Morpheus hung his head, "She is dead."

Kronos smiled, "Good, good. Now that she's out of the way, those demigods will have no one protecting their minds. When we fight, I want you to try and force them to stop them from fighting against my army. Do you understand?"

"Of course," Morpheus muttered. Kronos grinned again and walked out the door, his heavy footsteps following him down the hall. Morpheus looked down at my body, his eyes dark. "Terribly sorry, child," he said quietly. Then he was gone.

The boy looked from across the room to me (well, Minnie) with his eyes wide, then he moved closer to my body and began cutting off the ropes that held my body to the bed. After he was done, he used his fingers to close my eyes.

"She may have been a traitor," he muttered, "but she died like a hero." He looked back at Minnie, but I had him up against the wall with just a thought. Suddenly, new abilities hit me. Telekinesis, pyrokinesis, everything that I could do in the Dream World, was available for me in the real world. This was it; this was how I was more powerful than my father!

Morpheus may have been the one to help create the Dream World, but I was its master. Before, I thought I could simply trap people or take things from the Dream World. But it was so much more complicated than that. I could make it bend backwards and do whatever I please.

People do not sleep when they are conscious. But they do have daydreams, an indirect but powerful form of sleep. Every second, people are dreaming; every thought it connected to daydreams, which is connected to the Dream World. Like a tree and it's roots, everything has a connection.

How far I can take this, I'm not sure. But I was going to find out.

"Minnie," the boy whimpered, clearly afraid. I snapped back to reality and let him go. He immediately back up against the wall. I concentrated once more and felt myself leave Minnie's body and return to mine.

A world of pain welcomed me as I opened my eyes again. Minnie was on the floor, looking just as surprised as the boy. I shot up and quickly stood; the two of them cowered with fear.

"Don't worry," I said clearly. "I'm not going to hurt you." With that, I closed my eyes and concentrated on Percy. His thoughts popped up and I was suddenly standing in front of him, far away from Minnie and the boy.

"Violet?"

*Author's Note*

Woah! Snap, didn't see that coming!

Is it just a tad bit too ridiculous to believe? Please tell me and I'll change it. It does sound a little weird and stupid, and I know this, but…it's where the story's leading me. I let the story take on a life of itself….

XxSamacoyxX


	14. Chapter 14: Wake

I doubled over in pain, clutching my stomach. Percy jumped off the bed he was lying on and caught me as I fell to the floor. He wrapped his arm around my stomach, holding me up and yelling loudly for someone to help. The room was spinning and growing dark; Percy's shouts grew fuzzy and distant. The door banged open and someone ran into the room, but as they reached out and grabbed my arm, I hit the floor and was out cold.

Immediately, I was in the Dream World, the familiar and welcoming white, endless room. Victoria and the group of captives were scattered here and there; I could sense that they were really getting on one another's nerves. Victoria looked up lazily at me from where she was spread out on the ground, red hair hanging in front of her face. She studied me curiously for a moment.

"Is something wrong? You're not usually here for very long."

I frowned involuntarily and strode up to where she sat, sitting down in front of her. "Why do you side with Kronos?"

"Honestly? I don't know anymore. I used to hate my father for never being there…but being stuck here as given me plenty of time to think. Kronos will only destroy humanity; the Gods maintain it."

I smiled slightly and she cocked her head with a shy grin, like she just admitted she loved a band she openly protested against. Victoria glanced over at a couple of teens standing a long distance away, talking quietly and shooting glares back at her. She turned back to me and sighed.

"They hate me for changing my alliance…but in time, they will side with the Gods. This place is boring, but you have a lot of time to think and argue with your heart."

I contemplated my father and my newfound abilities. It didn't make sense that I could do what I can with my powers. I could plainly see how I have my abilities, as everything is in some way connected to the Dream World, but I didn't understand how I could be more powerful than my father. Morpheus had a part in the Dream World, therefore he should understand it completely.

I would never be able to fully control someone or make them do something that they'd never willingly do that they didn't think was moral. I could control a vegan and make her do nearly anything I wanted, but she would begin to gain more control over herself if I attempted to do something like eat meat. At this point, she'd start to be able to resist my commands and eventually, I'd be pushed from her mind and body, reentering the Dream World against my own will.

My other abilities, of course, are also limited. I have telekinesis and similar powers because people have always dreamed of being supernaturally powerful. I would never be able to move mountains or buildings with this, but I would be able to possibly throw someone across the room, if I so desired. And that could possibly come in handy.

"So…why are you here?" Victoria's question snapped me out of my thoughts. I looked into her face and found a mixture between curiosity and concern.

"Well, it appears that I'm unconscious, and not willingly. I was stupid and thought it'd be smart to attack Kronos' army when they were on down time. Obviously, it wasn't a smart idea."

She winced, "You hurt bad?"

"I guess. It hurts like hell."

"Hopefully a child of Apollo's helping you."

"Hopefully they drugged me up with some morphine or something. I'm not good with pain."

Victoria nodded and stretched, yawning as she did so. I felt the urge to yawn as well and did so. She chuckled when she noticed what I did, "Did you seriously just yawn? I thought you were sleeping!"

"I am, but I can't see someone yawn and not then yawn. Are you tired?"

Victoria shook her head and frowned again, "I haven't been since you first put me in here. I haven't been hungry, thirsty, or had the need to pee. Here…there's nothing but my thoughts. How long have I been here?"

"About five months."

Her eyes widened and she seemed taken aback. "Five months? My gods…" she trailed off, muttering quietly under her breath, looking down at her shoes. Victoria stayed quiet for some time after this. I looked off in the direction of the other captives, who glared at me with hatred, minus a dark haired boy who was watching the two of us with curiosity.

Suddenly, there was talking, and not from my prisoners. Percy's voice was ringing throughout the endless room, clear as day. "Is she going to be okay?" His voice was laced with concern and anxiousness.

Another voice was present, at first unrecognizable, but then it occurred to me that it was Kayla's. "I'm not sure. I've done all I can for her injuries, but we'll have to wait and see when she wakes up. Who knows what Morpheus could have done to her if he got his hands on her?"

"Do you mean that her mind could be infected," came another female voice, unrecognizable amongst the fear in it.

"Could be. Morpheus clearly as it out for Violet! He could have gotten into her head and messed it up all sorts. From the looks of it, Violet barely got out alive. By the way, how did she even get out?"

I could almost see Percy shrug at this question. "How would I know? All I can say is that I was getting ready to get some sleep and then a cyclone of sand appeared and Violet came out of nowhere! Maybe Morpheus took pity on her and transported her to safety!"

"Like he would do that for a traitor!" The voices became soft and distant, until they were gone all together. I immediately locked eyes with Victoria who didn't seem as shocked.

"Does that happen often," I questioned.

"Sometimes, usually when you sleep. But you wouldn't know that; you're usually somewhere else. It's not usually anything entertaining, just snippets of conversations around your body."

I raised my eyebrows. "That's so…"

"Weird, yeah. It's like having a TV on in the background."

We stayed quiet again for quite sometime, occasionally staring off in different directions, and sometimes finding ourselves watching one another, staring at our different clothing items. Victoria wore jeans and a tie dye tee-shirt, which looked just as new as it had five months ago. Then again, my prisoners were ageless in the Dream World. Somehow, I knew that if I let them out 60 years from now, they'd still appear to be the age they were when I trapped them; Victoria could be seventeen until I died, at which point she'd be released back into the real world.

I found myself wondering how the world would be different 60 years down the road. I was almost certain that there wouldn't be too drastic changes, because what we had was already pretty good. Hopefully there'd be less pollution, more wildlife, and less teenage skanks; I'd be good with just the latter. Would I be alive 60 years from now? Would the rest of my friends?

I locked eyes again with Victoria and then glanced back over at the other captives. An idea swarmed my mind, a potentially dangerous one. But it wasn't right to keep them locked up in here anymore. If they wanted to fight for Kronos, that was fine; it was their own decision.

I was going to release them from my own little prison.

Suddenly, the white was gone and I was staring back up at a cream colored ceiling. The pain hit me like a ton of bricks again and I was aware of a heavy blanket covering. There was a gasp the sound of glass breaking. I snapped my head to the left and found Victoria and the captives falling to the ground as they appeared out of nowhere. Percy, Thalia and Kayla fell back against the wall, surprised.

Victoria glanced up at me and cringed. She sprung up from where she landed on the floor and walked the few feet to where I lay on the bed. She glanced over my exposed arms and she subtly grimaced before she looked into my face.

"How bad is your pain, Violet?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but found it too dry and hoarse to talk. Somehow, she understood and glanced back at Percy. "She needs some water," Victoria announced. He regarded her for a second, pausing for mere moments. Percy then looked at me cautiously and I did my best to nod. He then backed out of the room promptly.

Thalia, however, stepped forward and eyed Victoria suspiciously. "Who are you?"

"My name is Victoria. I was trapped in the Dream World by Violet…but I guess she's let us out."

Thalia rounded on me, eyes wide. "Why would you let them out? Did they use mind control when you were with Kronos?"

I rolled my eyes as Percy came bursting back into the room with a cup of cold water. My throat stung as the chilled liquid hit my throat, but it immediately felt better. Clearing my throat, I croaked out, "There's no point in keeping them locked up. If they want to fight for Kronos, let them."

Thalia's eyes widened even more and her hair seemed to crackle with electricity. "Are you actually supporting their decision to fight against us? "

I opened my mouth to defend my thoughts, but Victoria's loud and offended voice cut me off. "I'm not fighting for Kronos, but who are you to question Violet? You act like you've never made a decision someone was against!"

"I'm not a traitor to the gods!"

"Neither am I! I've changed my perspective!"

"You can't just change your perspective!"

Kayla cut the two girls off as they began a heated argument, inching closer to one another, fists raised. "You are such a hypocrite, Thalia! You were so adamantly against Artemis and the Hunters, yet now you are their leader!"

"That's different," said girl rounded onto Kayla.

Behind Kayla, I noticed one of my ex-prisoners inching towards the door. I frowned and concentrated back on Kronos' headquarters. A second later, the boy and the other traitors disappeared in a swirl of sand.

"How did you do that," asked Percy as he sat on the edge of the bed I was lying in, eyebrows furrowed and confused. "You didn't have that power before."

"I actually don't know. It's pretty cool though, huh?"

"You bet. I wish I could teleport."

"It actually takes a lot of energy out of you. So does almost anything I do; just knowing what you're thinking about makes me a little tired."

"That sucks," Percy grimaced a little, showing me some sympathy. He jerked his head back to Victoria and Thalia, who were still fighting; Kayla was trying to force herself in-between them, attempting to stop them.

"You trust her?"

I gave myself one moment to think over this, but knew my answer. "It's a habit of mine."

Percy smiled for a minute, but then his eyes flashed over. "You're not going to be in fighting shape. Wait. You said something about new abilities?"

"It's not a huge step up, Percy, trust me. I only discovered I take more out of the Dream World then I originally thought; it'll help us, but not enough to tip the odds in our favor. And yes, I can fight."

"But look at you! Kayla said you broke some bones."

As if I couldn't feel them, I thought miserably. My body was aching and I definitely didn't look good. But hey, I could make blue and purple bruises look good, especially if I ran into an Aphrodite kid on the battlefield.

"Kinder spiele! Seriously Percy, you don't need to worry about me! A giant threw me against the ground and all I did was break a few bones; it takes a lot more than that to keep me on the sidelines."

"A giant used you as a play toy?"

"Yeah, well, it's because I look like Barbie."

"But you look nothing like Barbie. Isn't she blonde and wears makeup?"

"My Gods, Percy! Can't you just let me use a simile?"

"Sorry."

I rolled my eyes and pushed the blankets off of me, standing up gingerly, more pain shooting through me as my feet touched the floor. I winced, but tried to not show any pain as Thalia and Victoria stopped fighting, turning their attention back to me. I grinned a little at the both of them, "Oh, realized I existed now?"

Victoria rolled her eyes and was immediately at my side, which surprised even me. Since when were we even friends? She put her hand on my back and helped me stand up straight. She grinned when I didn't acknowledge my pain. "See, you're not as broken as you look."

"Thanks?"

"Yeah, you're welcome."

The door opened, Will and Annabeth strolling into the place; Annabeth was still pale and sickly looking from her little incident. Respectively, their eyes widened in surprise. "You're up," Will questioned. Thalia rolled her eyes, looking back at him with an awed expression.

"No, she's still sleeping."

Will didn't acknowledge her comment and strode up to me, looking over my bruises on my exposed arms and the fresh cut on my cheek. "Why are you standing? You should be getting some rest."

Percy shook his head and crossed his arms, "Violet seems to think she's going to be fighting tonight."

"Which I will."

Will shook his head, "That wouldn't be wise, Violet. You're hurt and all your wounds are fresh."

"Like I care. I'm not going to just sit there on the sidelines when I could easily take down dozens of demigods! Do you know how many traitors I was able to take out before I got caught?"

Thalia's ears perked up and her expression became intrigued; she opened her mouth, but Kayla started talking first.

"Maybe she should fight. We don't have very many still standing and Violet easily counts as ten fighters. Besides, it's not like we're going to be able to baby-sit her or something. And in case you didn't realize, she's old enough to make her own decisions. She's nearly 17."

No one spoke. Everyone was watching me and I was doing my best to will their minds to agree with Kayla. Sure, I could only control one person at a time and people would get suspicious if I went through each of them to agree, but I still silently pleaded. Eventually, Percy started nodding his head.

"Kayla's right. We'll just have to let Violet do as she wants." He, however, then rounded on me, his expression serious. "If you do get too hurt, though, we will force you to sit out. Do you understand me?"

"Yeah Mom. Now someone get me something that isn't bloody, because just imagine what the daughters of Aphrodite will say if they see me like this."

Percy rolled his eyes, "You're such a guy." But the everyone did wander off, some getting in some cat naps while others mentally prepared themselves for the next battle. Kayla strolled in with some clean clothes after I took a shower, which hurt like crazy, but I figured I could use it. And I was right; I looked 10 times better after I cleaned off all the blood.

I dressed in jeans and a tee-shirt and left the room, wandering around the hotel. We had taken over the top levels of the Plaza, which were generally more comfortable and roomy. We didn't plan on having a battle last several days, so staying at a hotel was a spur of the moment idea. Annabeth led us to the nearest hotel, so I suppose it was a good thing there wasn't a rundown motel nearby.

"Violet! Are you okay?" I snapped my head to the left and was almost run over by Josie as she jumped out of the doorway of a room. She looked me over with anxious eyes.

"Yeah, I'm ok. Good as new. Are you alright?"

Josie nodded as Ryan strolled up beside her, a large bruise on his right eye and a cut on his forehead. "There weren't that many that attacked us, so we got let off easy. Ryan was a little overwhelmed, though," Josie explained. Ryan grimaced and twitched his eye.

"But what were you thinking," Josie suddenly reprimanded me. "You could have gotten yourself killed!"

I grinded my teeth to try and keep myself from rolling my eyes. Why was everyone telling me how stupid I was? Couldn't anybody see that I could clearly see the consequences of my actions and I had no fear? There was nothing holding me to this Earth, to this life. What was the point?

Will Solace was suddenly there, "Violet! Chiron wants to speak with you." He jerked his head in the direction he had come and I was grateful to get away from Josie and Ryan, who were giving me looks mixed between anger and concern. I didn't know which one was worse.

I followed Will down a flight of stairs and into a huge common room. The war council sat on the couches and Chiron stood near the fireplace, looking into his reflection in the mirror about the fire. Katie smiled as I sat down next to her and looked up at Chiron.

Said centaur turned around and looked into each of our faces. "You have fought very bravely so far, children. The gods and I are very proud of all of you, but things are only going to get harder. At the beginning, we were very strong…but we've already lost a large number. We'll have to fight harder and longer than ever before if we want to win this war."

I frowned and made eye contact with Katie. Connor leaned over Annabeth to whisper to Pollux, "Is this supposed to be encouraging?"

I turned my attention back to Chiron who was looking directly at me. "You must track down Morpheus, Violet. Find him and overpower him; this is crucial. With your newfound abilities, you should be able to do so without too many difficulties."

"Why do you have so much faith in me? I just discovered these powers; I don't know how to control them," I whined. Katie patted my back reassuringly and sympathetically, but Jake shook his head violently.

"You don't seem to get it," he practically shouted. "Morpheus is dangerous; a demigods' most powerful weapon is their dreams. He can get into our heads and make us change alliances or do something we would never do. He needs to be stopped."

I shook my head, "But Morpheus can't make you do anything you don't want to! I completely understand wanting to take Morpheus out, but I don't understand why I'm the one expected to do it. Percy once beat up Ares-he could easily take Morpheus!"

I glanced at Percy to see his reaction, but his face just tightened and he didn't look too happy with what I said. Chiron sighed and moved closer to me. "But this is your destiny. The gods refuse to tell me too much, but Lady Athena and Aphrodite say it's very important. The latter said something about a boy…"

I felt myself blush, but I forced myself to pretend that I didn't hear the last sentence. "I understand that the gods it's important for me to do so, but anyone could just do it. Morpheus is generally weak-I've realized that."

Chiron shrugged and sighed with irritation. "I'm sorry Violet, but that's just the way it is."

*Author's Note*

Sorry this took so long. Somehow, my internet got disconnected and we couldn't figure out the problem for quite a while. Anyway, it's kind of just a filler and I hope you guys did get the point that Violet isn't as strong as I made it out to be in the previous chapter. Violet's very powerful in terms of being a demigod, but she isn't some sort of super demigod or something.

Please review!

XxSamacoyxX


	15. Chapter 15: Flight, Soul Mate, and Drown

I jumped out of a window on the highest level of the Plaza Hotel. For not even 1/10th of a second, I was hovering high above the New York ground; not even a heartbeat later, I was falling past windows and countless stories with blinding speed. My heart raced as the ground came closer and when my face was just inches from the cement, I closed my eyes, bracing myself for the collision. But no collision came.

I was flying over New York, watching Kronos and a few members of his loyal army were converged together on the other side of town. I dived down, air whipping around me violently, everything a blur except Kronos' face. I narrowly avoided crashing into the ground and suddenly looking eye level into Kronos' golden eyes. He stayed frozen for a moment until he whipped around to speak with three young demigods waiting dutifully behind him.

"Our spy is dead. We must attack now while the element of surprise is still fresh in the air," he spoke with a dead, toneless voice. Kronos narrowed his eyes at the only female and youngest amongst the three, a blonde of about fourteen. "Gather your troops, daughter of Athena. We attack in mere minutes."

The blonde glanced anxiously at the two boys on her left before fixing her gaze on Kronos. Stuttering, she said, "I-I don't think that's wisest. Our best fighters are injured and the others are too wary to fight any longer; if we send them into battle now, the only thing that will come out of it is their sure slaughter. It seems more logical to return to Base Camp and wait a little longer to take control of Olympus."

Kronos, who'd been displaying his best poker face as she spoke, suddenly twitched his eyebrows. Slowly, anger and hate mixed their way onto his face; the daughter of Athena took a step backward, petrified.

"You dare question my commands? Did I ask for your opinion?"

Squeaking with fear and grey eyes glossy with tears, she croaked, "But you'd ask that I give you advice! You said you wanted to know what the best battle strategies are!"

Kronos' golden eyes flashed, "If you value your life, you'll do as I say now! Rally the remaining troops for attack," he spat at her. The blonde remained stunned for one moment, frozen with fear, but bolted the next second. Almost a dozen demigods that had been at the threes' flanks took off with her, terror radiating off of each of them.

Kronos took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment. A second later, he was glaring at the tallest of the boys, a dark haired boy with captivating blue eyes. Said boy had a cocky, sideways smirk and his eyes clearly told me that he thought his he was hot stuff; the cut above his left eye begged to differ.

I caught myself staring at the boy, caught off guard at how familiar he was. I racked through my mind for any possible meeting with this boy; had I met him on the Princess Andromeda? He seemed perfectly content with being in Kronos' presence, as if it wasn't a big deal. Even the most daring demigods were frightened of being anywhere near the Titan Lord.

Then I remembered Aphrodite, her warning, and my dream. He's my supposed soul mate.

Anxiety began running through me upon this realization. I looked him up and down; he was visibly taller than the boy next to him and was dramatically taller than the girl who'd fled, and she was average height. The boy was rather thin, not too scrawny or anything, but seemed to have shed his baby fat.

He wore a simple black tee-shirt, leather jacket, jeans, and green converse. I smiled to myself; my kind of guy. Wait-what was I thinking? He's not my soul mate! Aphrodite does not decide my destiny!

"Tobias," Kronos directed at the boy, "I want you and your siblings on the front line. Carly and the rest of her siblings will be directing the fighters until they're needed to fight, but I want you to be first in the action. Understand?"

"Yes Sir," the boy, Tobias, said confidently. The kid next to him, however, didn't look as confident. He glanced sideways at Tobias, an unsure expression on his face. He braced himself then spoke up, which probably isn't the smartest thing to do, considering his leader.

"Sir, perhaps Carly's right. She is a daughter of Athena, after all. When have you ever known a child of Athena to be wrong? We'd just be sending soldiers to their death with an attack right now," he finished with his face set and eyes suddenly brave.

Kronos narrowed his eyes at the brave boy. "Perhaps you have a death wish, Robert. I've never known a son of Ares to be intelligent, and you are not proving that you are in fact smart. Go back to your troop and prepare them for an immediate battle with the army of the gods."

Robert opened his mouth again to argue, but I suddenly felt something pulling on me. I flew away from the ground, jerked back into the air and speeding back to the Plaza. On the highest level, I barreled through an open window, landing swiftly on my feet.

I opened my eyes from where I sat, meditating on the floor of an unused room that Percy had pointed out to me as sound proof. There was no doubt I was able to connect with the Dream World and get into people's heads at any point in time, but to really take full control of my abilities, I needed a dark and quiet space to concentrate.

I stood up quickly, squinting around the small room to see what broke my concentration. "Is someone there?"

Silence ensued, but the door suddenly burst open. Light streamed into the small room and Thalia stood in the doorway, sword at her side and a look of panic on her face. There was a commotion going on outside the room in the hallway, loud shouts and people running past the door like there was a fire.

"Thalia? What's going on?"

"Kronos' army is attacking. We need your help," she croaked out. In half a second, my sword and shield transformed. Thalia and I were running to the elevator, cramming in tightly with a dozen or so other demigods armed with weapons and shields. The elevator ride down to the first floor felt like a lifetime in itself, but the doors opened quicker than I'd expected.

The second I walked out the front door to the hotel, it was apparent that a lot had happened while I was watching Kronos and his goons. There was a full scale war going on just outside the hotel. Some Campers were locked one-on-one combat with enemy demigods; others were grouping together to take on several at a time, playing on one another's strengths and making up for their weaknesses.

The first thing I noticed, however, was the large number of Ares children running around, helping wherever they were needed. I turned to Thalia quickly.

"When did Clarisse swallow her pride?"

Both sadness and pride wiped across her face, "Silena disguised herself as Clarisse and led the Ares Cabin here; Silena was killed."

It took me a minute to comprehend, but it suddenly clicked; Silena was Kronos' spy. While I was watching said Titan Lord, he announced that their spy had been killed. Silena must have been killed mere minutes before I broke out of the daydream. Pity for the girl ran through me, but as did anger. But I didn't have time to deal with these emotions. Within a second later, an arrow whizzed past my face, missing me by inches. Thalia and I jumped apart, immediately becoming engaged with separate demigods and dracaena.

I slashed fiercely and almost immediately took down the large boy I was fighting. As he fell to the ground, I started running towards Annabeth, who was a battling a boy twice her size. Typically, Annabeth was a fantastic fighter, especially with her knife, but said girl was still weak from her injury.

I was within ten feet of Annabeth and the boy overpowering when everything suddenly went black. I heard someone shout my name, but I was suddenly flying through the air, light breaking me out of the black. New York was speeding under me; I could see where everyone of our Campers was. Most of us were down and injured, physically and mentally unable to continue the hopeless fight.

Suddenly, I crashed landed into a road on the other side of Manhattan. Ramming into the hard cement, pain shot through my body as I skid across the road for several feet until coming to a stop upon hitting the sidewalk.

I stayed still for a moment, the pain washing over me. Slowly, I pushed myself to a sitting position and immediately blanched at the sight of my arms and legs, which were cut up and bloody. My head ached and I was almost too afraid to touch it, because I was pretty sure there was going to be a lot of blood. I looked around slowly, head pulsing, to find any familiar landmarks.

Instead, I found Morpheus, who was grinning.

"You don't look so good," he chuckled.

I narrowed my eyes and attempted to jump up, but pain ran up and down my back and forcing my leg to buckle under me. I screamed out in pain and fell back to the cement. I clutched my leg, which was a sickly shade of purple and black.

"You were looking for me, child, so you now you've found me," Morpheus called out as I quieted. He strolled up to me and grinned down as I tried to block the pain.

"What're you going to do? Kill me?"

Morpheus only smirked wider, "Now why would you think that? You could be very useful to me!"

"I'm a threat, remember? I'm stronger than you."

"Yes, but who's the one with a broken leg," Morpheus chuckled.

He walked away from me again, moving over to a sleeping mortal on the other side of the road. The blonde woman lay with her cheek to the ground, her hand still clutching the leash connected to her black dog, which was sleeping soundly next to her. Morpheus stood over her, contemplating her.

"Humans are so pathetic. They're born, they reproduce, they die. What's the point?"

He turned back to me suddenly, as if I was the one who'd spoken out loud. Morpheus strolled back up to me casually as I stretched my leg; I bit back a hiss as the pain rippled through me. Slowly, I climbed to my feet, despite my leg and back screaming its protest.

"That's the problem with you and your Titans. You have no sense of Humanity. At least the gods know a thing or two about what humans are about."

"And what are they about," mused Morpheus, one eyebrow arched as he crossed his arms.

I looked at the sleeping woman, who seemed so peaceful, unaware of how close she and the rest of the six billion people on Earth are to death. Once upon a time, I was just another human; clueless and just trying to live day-by-day. I wish I could just go back to my life before Grover interrupted it, no matter how poor of a life it was. I just wish I didn't have to deal with Destinies and putting my life on the line to help save the world. I wish I could be innocent and ignorant like the mortals.

But it's the duty of a demigod.

I looked back into Morpheus' face, which I was surprised to be suddenly aware of how similar we actually looked. It's been so long since I'd seen my mother and have long forgotten precisely what she looks like, but I'd always assumed I looked like her. It was clear, however, that I was definitely Morpheus' child. Despite the dark hair, we shared the same eyes, the same facial structure; the likeness was uncanny.

Morpheus kept the same facial expression, but I could see curiousness flash in his eyes. "Care to enlighten me," he asked again.

"Humans may not have any special abilities like you or get to live forever. But they do have the one thing you seem to lack; compassion. Love. Forgiveness."

He raised his eyebrows. "You're referring to me killing your brothers and sisters, then? Come on Violet, I had to. They were too ungrateful for what they had."

I was about to reply, but I suddenly heard voices inside my head. "Is she okay?" "Does she look okay?" "But I don't understand! She was just walking towards me and then all of a sudden, she's covered with blood?" "Violet! Wake up!" I frowned and tried to make sense of the voices.

I eyed Morpheus who was smiling, relaxed and content.

"What's going on?"

He chuckled, "I'm the God of Dreams…what do you think is going on?"

I frowned more, "This is all just a dream?" I should have realized; as far as I knew, the gods couldn't just transport people from one place to another. Not Zeus, or Hera, or Apollo…not one of them. They could transport themselves yes, and I knew that Rico could shadow-travel with others, but gods couldn't.

Morpheus nodded, grinning as he did so, like he was proud that I figured this simple fact out. I felt so stupid for not realizing quicker and would have blushed if I wasn't currently trying to wake myself up. My subconscious was telling me that something serious and big was happening, not to mention that I was apparently injured; I could almost feel myself being dragged off towards safety by my fellow Campers.

I pinched myself, hoping that I'd wake, until I realized that my injures alone would be painful enough to jerk me awake if that'd work. I looked up at my father, who was still grinning and watching me expectantly.

"You're holding me in sleep," I accused Morpheus.

He frowned, looking insulted. "You don't have to say it with that tone. Yes, I am, but you don't need to make it sound so bad."

"You have to let me wake up. You and I are going to have to fight, Morpheus; you can't kill me in the Dream World."

Morpheus' eyes widened with shock, but he quickly regained his composure. "You expect us to fight, Child?"

It was my turn to laugh. "Isn't that what happens in your little Prophecy? One of your kids is stronger than you and you have to fight to keep your title? The Olympians may not know your secret, Morpheus, but you can't hide it from someone inside your mind."

Anger and fear flashed in Morpheus' eyes. "And what? You think you'll be able to take me down? I'm a god, Violet. Surely even you're not that fatuous."

I grinned in spite of myself. No, not at my father's words, but the fact that I could feel myself slipping away from him, slowly regaining my consciousness. "I'm sure I can take you down, Morpheus. I'm stronger than you."

"You're a demigod; stronger than the mortals, but never stronger than the gods."

The scene in front of me was fading fast now. I could barely make out Morpheus through the darkness that was creeping upon my vision. "And this is your last day on Earth."

Blackness completely overtook me, but I quickly opened my eyes, the sun shining once again on me. The first thing I was aware of was the pain; it was a lot stronger in the real world then in the Dream World. But how I got hurt, I wasn't so sure of.

I sat up quickly, ignoring my body screaming its protest. Kids were running all around me, fighting and screamingly fiercely. Campers were fighting with every fiber in their being, but Kronos' demigods were doing the same. If I thought it was bad before, it was nothing compared to this; this must be the end. Soon, the gods will arrive and it means an almost guaranteed loss for Kronos; he's getting antsy and anxious to just get his over quickly.

"You're awake!"

I turned to see Kayla with my foot in her lap as she was bandaging my ankle. She seemed surprised, probably for good reasoning. Looking down at myself, I realized I was injured precisely as I had been when in the Dream World. Was this Morpheus' final attempt to slow me down as we went into our own personal battle?

Suddenly, a vision of Olympus popped into my head. Morpheus was walking into a Temple cautiously, following the little girl I've come to know as the Oracle of Delphi Morpheus seemed anxious of the Temple, like something was about to jump out and attack him. The Oracle glanced around, her childlike face pouting at Morpheus.

"Come on now, Morpheus. The Temple won't hurt you," she urged.

The Oracle turned around again, fully entering the Temple. Morpheus quickened his pace and entered just a few feet behind her; the door slammed behind them. Morpheus looked around and took in all the details. The golden statue of Zeus in his normal form standing in the middle of the room, jewels glittering on the ceiling.

"This is where it ends."

Morpheus snapped his head down at the tiny blonde standing merely a foot from him, looking up into his face grimly.

"What," he demanded, taken aback.

She smiled slightly. "This Temple is where you'll face your Prophecy child for the first and last time in battle."

Morpheus' eyes widened and he took another glance over the building, as if burning the details into his mind. He looked back down at the Oracle.

"Do you yet know who wins?"

She shook her head, sighing softly. "We've been over this hundreds of times, Morpheus. I don't know the answer; I thought you decided to question the Fates?"

"But they won't tell me anything," Morpheus practically screamed in her face. "Why am I even being threatened by a child who hasn't even been born yet? I am the rightful God of Dreams!"

The Oracle remained calm, keeping her composure, even though Morpheus all but nearly spat in her face with anger. "I see the child being born not long before the child of the Great Prophecy. They will be very close, even after death."

Morpheus rolled his eyes. "You're so useless to me! You never answer my questions!"

"Then why did you come to me in the first place? You wanted your Fate and I gave you it. This is why some people shouldn't know their Destinies; they spend the rest of their lives worrying endlessly. Either way, it's going to happen."

The vision faded and I was again staring at Kayla, who seemed more alarmed than she had mere minutes ago.

"Are you alright?"

I nodded, waving off her concern and scanned the area for Percy. "Where's Percy?"

"He's going up to Olympus in a moment. Why?"

I didn't answer Kayla's question. I swung my leg out from her hands and jumped up. I landed painfully on my foot, but I ignored it. I closed my eyes and tried to locate Percy's thoughts and will myself to teleport to his location, but the hustle and bustle in the street was too much for me to concentrate. I opened my eyes and started running in the direction the Empire State Building, which was about a mile and a half from the hotel. I ran through the streets, dodging fighters. Demigods didn't even turn to look at me as I passed, too engrossed with their final moments in battle to notice anything. Kayla screamed my name, begging me to return back for care. She didn't dare run after me, though; running into dozens of demigods fighting blindly was near suicidal.

I booked it down the street, running as fast as I could. People and faces were a blur to me, either because I was going too fast to get a good look, or I was just really concentrating on my goal ahead. I jerked around a corner, running towards a short cut I memorized from tracking Kronos and his army. My legs were burning with pain and the air was whipping my face violently, the cold letting me know I had a lot of cuts on my face.

The Empire State Building base came into sight in less than seven minutes. There were only a couple of Campers standing guard at the front doors, the majority of our only able-bodied fighters back at the Plaza, fighting for dear life.

"Violet," questioned a big son of Ares, who stepped forward, probably shocked at my appearance. I didn't answer him, instead, I just burst through the doors. Annabeth, Percy, Grover, and Thalia were just entering the elevator.

"Wait," I screamed.

They all jerked around, eyes wide with surprise. "Violet? What are you doing," Percy practically yelled. "You're hurt, you should be resting."

I threw myself into the elevator doors before they could deny me entrance. They quickly climbed in and pressed the button for the top floor. As we began moving up, they all turned to look at me. "What happened to you," asked Thalia.

I rolled my eyes. "Morpheus," I said casually, as if this should be common knowledge. We sat quietly for the rest of the climb, looking at one another anxiously. After what seemed an eternity, the doors dinged and opened.

I ran as fast as I could out of the elevator doors, ignoring Annabeth and Percy yelling after me. The floor was collapsing and racing back down to Manhattan, and my legs were screaming in protest, but I leapt from floor stone to floor stone, reaching the other side quickly. I booked it down the street, not even stopping to survey the damage already done to Olympus. I kept my concentration on the Temple of Zeus, the one from my vision.

I burst through the doors and stopped in mid run; Morpheus stood in the center, frowning at me. "I personally hoped you wouldn't show child," he said softly, as if he was going to regret killing me. He was dressed in a simple, gray cloak that reached the floor, his usual clothing, I'm sure.

I looked around the ruined Temple, which was crumbling. Stone fell from the ceiling, which was threatening to cave in altogether. A majestic statue lay broken on the ground; a gold and jewels were scattered all over the floor. Mentally, I prepared myself for the fit Zeus was going to throw, but I concentrated on my father for the time being. I turned my gaze back to him as I strode into the building more, getting closer to Morpheus.

"What does your Prophecy really say," I asked him confidently. I had a feeling that I already knew what his Prophecy said.

"That one of my children would overthrow me, or die trying, anyway," Morpheus said nonchalantly. I nodded once; my assumptions were correct all along. He'd told my few siblings that they were destined to rule alongside him, to overthrow the gods and create a new order of life. Morpheus gave them all they could ever imagine and so much more to attempt to get them to side with him, so he could keep them under control and unable to advance their abilities that they needed to take him down.

But the premature deaths of them proved that Morpheus was never trying to help my brothers and sisters, that they were destined for true greatness. I was the only one to reach my true potential, to not only learn the truth but to also master the abilities that not even Morpheus was granted. What was it that made me special? Why was I blessed with some kind of greatness when my siblings weren't even permitted to live beyond 20?

"Are you going to kill me now?"

"Yes. What would it look to my master if I let you live? You're practically a hired gun, Violet."

"I wasn't born to kill, Morpheus. I am a fighter, but I wish death upon no one."

He sighed and shook his head, looking around the crumpling palace that was dedicated to Zeus. Kronos and his army did quite a number to it on their way to the Temple of the Gods; the statue of Zeus that typically stood in the middle of the room was fallen and with the head removed.

"Do you believe that people should be repressed, Violet?"

I was taken aback by his sudden and unexpected question. He was standing over Zeus' head, gazing it with pure disgust. "Don't even begin to think of yourself as a victim, Morpheus."

He snapped his head back at me and I slid a few inches back; the force that had knocked into me would have made me fly back just a few months ago, but I was stronger now, able to resist the urges he was pressuring into my mind.

With just a moment's concentration, the pressure stopped and a look of anger crossed Morpheus' face and we locked eyes. "How dare you use the abilities I gave you against me."

"You didn't have to give me anything. It's your own fault for conceiving me in the first place; you knew that a child of yours would overthrow you. Why did you even take the risk?" I questioned. I'd thought hard and long about this; it just didn't make any sense to me.

Morpheus' face softened and his eyes seemed to travel elsewhere, like he was a million miles away. "I thought if I had a child who was on a higher powerbase that was similar to the Olympians, they could raise me to a higher status. We'd be unstoppable," he addressed me. "You're a lot more powerful than some of even the Olympians."

"But why? How am I so powerful," I practically squealed out. Not one of us knew; not Annabeth, Percy, or even Chiron. Even the gods said they had no idea, that only Morpheus and the Fates had an inkling as to why I had abilities that no demigod should be able to have.

Morpheus' face hardened again and straightened his back. "It doesn't matter. You'll be in Hades soon enough."

Suddenly, a large fireball was rocketing its way directly towards my face. I jumped to the right and collided with the ground, the fireball narrowly missing me. My body screamed in pain from where my injuries from early hit the hard floor, but I ignored the urge to stay still as another fireball came bolting my way.

I jumped up and willed myself to think about throwing Morpheus across the room. Within seconds, Morpheus flew backwards and rammed into the wall opposite me. He fell to the floor and glanced up at me, a look of pure hatred on his face. Morpheus jumped up and I was suddenly flying through the air, the only thing stopping me was a wall. My head made contact and bright lights danced in my eyes.

I fell face first to the ground; my face really didn't have enough room for any more cuts.

My sight swarmed in front of me, the room disorienting to look at. I blinked and was immediately greeted by a vision.

"Come on Rose. I love you," Morpheus pleaded.

He was dressed in a normal shirt and jeans, following around a dark haired woman with a very pregnant belly. They were in a small apartment, barely containing a tiny kitchen and twin bed stuffed in a corner. It, however, was a bright and cheerful blue with white furniture. The woman clutched her belly protectively, giving Morpheus an angry and resentful look. She was tanner than he was, with deep chocolate brown eyes and a heart shaped face.

This woman was clearly my mother.

"You're not normal, Morpheus. You're not human," Rose yelled at him, a slight Mexican accent slurring her words.

"And neither is that baby you care so much about. You're three months pregnant, Rosie, how normal is that," he shot back at her, his nostrils flaring.

Rose took a step back, clutching the baby me that was currently in her protruding stomach. "You're a monster, Morpheus. I was fine when you said you were a god…but when you said you killed your children in cold blood," Rosie choked out, shaking her head. "You're not touching my baby."

Morpheus stood quietly for a moment, taking in her expression. "I can give you everything you want, Rose. I won't harm the baby, I promise. We can raise her together; she won't have to follow her brothers and sisters in death."

Rose narrowed her eyes. "You think I'm stupid. I know you better than you think I do; you're a liar, a cheat. You'll kill my daughter the first chance you get."

Morpheus kept a look of pure anger on his face as he leaned in close to my mother. An inch from her face, he said, "Trust me, Rose. Both of you will regret your decision." With that, he disappeared in a flash of sand.

Rose breathed with relief and plopped down onto her bed, rubbing her stomach lovingly. "Don't worry my Violet. Momma won't let him hurt you."

My vision shook as I started crying. I came back to the real world, where Morpheus was inching closer to me, fireballs raised high in the air on either side of him. He shook his head, remorse on his face.

"I'm not some cold-hearted killer, Violet. I'm just trying to keep what's rightfully mine. If your mother would have agreed to my offer, she'd be alive and you wouldn't about to meet her in Hades. I just hope they spare you," he said, whispering the last line. He sighed once and the fireballs flew at me.

I jumped out of the way and quickly entered the Dream World before I fell back to the ground. Upon seeing the white, I shifted, quickly thinking of something that could at least slow my father's efforts. In moments, I found the perfect solution and bolted out of the Dream World, taking my idea with me.

I fell to the floor as water from the ceiling. Morpheus looked up and laughed at me, "Water? As if that can hurt me!"

Water hit the floor like a ton of bricks, washing the regiments of the statue left around. The water inched closer to Morpheus, barely touching his shoes. I started crawling towards the exit as the water quickly filled up the Temple, reminding me of the Titanic when the sea water rushed into the foray. The water scooped me up, as well as Morpheus, and in seconds, the water was halfway to the ceiling. I jerked around in the water to see Morpheus trying desperately teleport out, panicking that his abilities have seemed to render him helpless.

The water was inches from the ceiling. I took a deep breath and pulled myself under the water, opening my eyes the second I was completely submerged. Morpheus was about twenty feet from me, grasping his throat and struggling with the little breath he had in his lungs. He looked over at me, hate in his eyes as he began swimming quickly towards me.

I kicked off the wall and zoomed towards the ground, swimming as fast as I could. All I needed to do was keep moving and out of Morpheus' reach until he ran out of breath. He changed direction and once again came barreling my way. He sped up, his hand outstretched and mere inches away from grabbing my leg. I begin to panic after a few more seconds, as my own air supply was nearly on empty.

But Morpheus stopped in place, eyes rolling into the back of his head and he suddenly went limp. He lay floating in the water and cautiously, I swam up to Morpheus. I stopped next to his head, poking him to make sure he was out. I grimaced when he didn't move. As I was about to return to the Dream World and make the water disappear, Morpheus' eyes snapped open and he gripped my neck.

Involuntarily, I opened my mouth to yell out, only to have water rush into my throat. I began coughing on the mouthful as I tried to fight off Morpheus' grip on my neck. He was squeezing with both hands, attempting to choke me. My sight was fading and turning black again. I had to do something quick.

I looked down at my bracelet and quickly le go of Morpheus' hands, tapping the bracelet before he knew what was happening. My bracelet transformed, turning into my sword. The second it changed, I grabbed it by the blade and struck Morpheus in the head with the hilt.

He seemed dumbstruck and immediately let go of me, eyes rolling into the back of his head and he once again became limp. I attempted to jump into the Dream World before I ran out of oxygen, but before I could even think that, everything went black.

*Author's Note*

It's been forever since I've updated! Sorry, a general lack in motivation is pretty much to blame…that and work and the start of my Senior year! I know some people have been really anxious to get the next chapter, so here you go! I hope the plot of this chapter went smoothly (as smoothly as I can get it, I guess). Anyway, thanks so much to those who read this (and review!….I'm just throwing that out there…please catch?).

I think there's just going to be one last chapter after this, then I'm done with Violet's story line. I'm going to concentrate on "In The Air" after this. I might actually scrap the start of that story and restart with a slightly different idea…

Any who's, I really am sorry for the lack of updates. It's been almost a month! I know I hate it when I'm reading a fanfic and the author doesn't update for a long time, so I apologize greatly for being one of "those" people.

XxSamacoyxX

P.S. I'll have the next and final chapter up as soon as I can manage.


	16. Chapter 16: Unbreakable

*Author's Note* This is the last chapter for "Sleepyhead." This is the final installment for Violet and her stories, but I'm thinking of doing a spin-off.

I was in the Dream World, that was understandable enough. I was standing in the familiar, never-ending white room, or whatever it was. After I released Victoria and the other prisoners, it was determined that this white room would continue to be empty, but now, there were four teenagers standing in front of me.

The one I recognized first was Tutankhamun, the only royalty that spawned from Morpheus. He smiled at me kindly, happy, just as he'd been when I'd first and last met him in his tomb. There were four others standing with him, two boys and two girls.

Immediately, I recognized them as my siblings, although they all looked dramatically different from me, despite our shared high cheek bones.

There was a rather thin Asian boy with cropped black hair, a very tall brunette with a toned muscular form, a tiny girl with curly blonde hair and bright blue eyes, and a girl with striking similarities to Tutankhamun.

"We meet again, Violet," Tutankhamun said cheerfully. "You seem to still be in one piece."

I grimaced, "In the Dream World, at least. Not sure how too well my body's doing."

He chuckled and shook his head, "I'm sure it's looking fine."

I looked down the short line, making eye contact with each one of my siblings. Upon locking eyes, I could see their entire lives. Ayumu was born in 1433 in Japan and survived the height of the Ōnin War, only to be killed by Morpheus 1450 after he sold his soul to our father and turning his back on him after he became an important priest.

Joseph Cook was born in 1815 in Australia, working on his mother's farm and was constantly beat by his step-father; Morpheus was promised a lifetime of servitude by Joseph in exchange of my brother gaining fame through sports, but Joseph became pigheaded and denied Morpheus his payment. Joseph died a day short of his twentieth birthday.

Ibolya Deák was a poor Jewish girl born in 1903 in Austria-Hungary. Her mother had an affair with Morpheus; she'd tried to pass Ibolya off as her husband's child, but it was hard when Ibolya looked nothing like him, yet was the spitting image of Morpheus. Sick and tired of being treated like dirt because of her mother's mistake and her heritage, she was willing to strike a deal with Morpheus-work alongside for life in exchange for beauty and wealth. Like the others, she became haughty and tended to believe she owed Morpheus nothing. Needless to say, she was promptly killed before she was 18.

Sakhmet turned her face away from me, gazing down at Ibolya's shoes; I already knew her past.

"I don't understand. Am I dead?"

Tutankhamun frowned at my question, crossing his arms. "I assume so. Each time one of us has died, we've all come here from Hades…we got the call, so here we are."

I nodded and looked down at my own feet, clad with converse. My stomach dropped; was I dead? I didn't defeat Morpheus? Perhaps he'd been wrong, I wasn't the child of his Prophecy. Someone else, born sometime in the far future would be the child of the Prophecy, the one to overthrow Morpheus and keep him from helping Kronos to rule again. Did this mean we lost?

"I'm not so certain she's passed," a sharp and thick accented voice said. I looked up to see Sakhmet staring directly at me, curious and intrigued. "We all felt the Call to be here…but it was somehow different."

Ayumu nodded, eyeing me up and down. "I know what you mean. It wasn't the average Call."

Tutankhamun sighed heavily, "But if she isn't passed, then why would we have been Called?"

Silence filled the air. Each one of my siblings kept their eyes trained on me, making me a little self-conscious. Tutankhamun was pursing his lips and narrowing his eyes at me, his mind a world away. He stayed oh so still, something that clearly concerned the others, for they kept shooting him odd looks. But it was mere moments later when realization and a look of not horror, but awe crossed his features. As he opened his mouth, they all glanced over at him, making it seem as if he were some undeclared leader.

"Maybe she's overthrown Father," Tutankhamun said calmly.

The others were silent, watching me with mixed emotions. Fear? No mere demigod has ever outrightly overthrown a god before. Awe? Well, I suppose the latter could be attributed to the first.

"But that's impossible. I have to be dead; I was drowning," I cried in protest.

Sakhmet shook her head and rushed forward, gripping my forearms. "No! You should wake up now! Go back to the Living World!"

I took a step back, shocked by her sudden outburst. "What? Why? What's going on?"

Joseph nodded fiercely, "You need to collect yourself, will yourself out of the Dream World. It's possible that you knocked out Morpheus; if you did, you have a very short time before we wakes again and gains control back. If you were to throw him in Hades, you can keep him from coming back!"

"What are you waiting for stupid girl? Leave now," snapped Ayumu. Immediately, I snapped my eyes shut and felt myself drifting away from the Dream World. My siblings faded into darkness and voices erupted around me.

"Come on now, Violet. Open those pretty eyes."

"Since when are you so motherly?"

"What are you talking about? I'm very maternal. My Hunters are my daughters; I hope Violet will take the offer to be a Hunter when she wakes."

"You offered her to be a Hunter? Didn't you realize that I already let her know she does have a Soul mate? The Fates have a very specific destiny for her and he's involved."

"Yeah, well I'm hoping she'll ignore that. He fought for Kronos; she won't want him."

"But he's adorable! Have you seen that boy in shorts?"

"Even if I didn't detest men, I hardly doubt that I'd be attracted to a 17 year old boy. You shouldn't be either; it's just wrong on so many levels."

"Will you two shut up? Violet's coming around now. Come on, puppet."

I slowly opened my eyes, blinking quickly when my sight was met with a bright light that filled the entire Temple. After a few moments, I opened my eyes widely and drank in the sight before me. The nearest person was a stern-faced brunette, the spitting image of Annabeth; right behind her were two women who looked nothing alike. One was blonde and breathtakingly beautiful-instantly recognizable as Aphrodite, although I've met her only in a different form; still, how many women that gorgeous exist? The third was a rather young girl, much younger than me, with fiery red hair plaited down her back.

Athena, Aphrodite, and Artemis came for me.

"Am I dead?" My voice croaked and was hoarse; it felt like it was possibly on fire.

Athena chuckled and warmth swarmed its way into her harsh eyes, "If you were dead we'd certainly not be here. We're not allowed to visit Hades."

The three of them smiled at me, their grins pulled back tightly. I sat up slowly, body aching. Looking around, I noticed that the floor was slick with water, Zeus' statue lay in ruins in heaps around the room, and Morpheus was gone.

"Morpheus? Where is he," I practically shouted, jumping up from where I sat and looked around violently.

"Calm yourself, Violet. Morpheus is in Zeus' custody," Artemis said matter-of-factly.

"But I don't understand…what happened?"

Athena smiled kindly and patted my hand. "You knocked Morpheus out because of the water. You lost consciousness as well; we thought we were too late to help you, but the second we appeared, POOF! Even when you sleep you're powerful."

Aphrodite grinned and pushed Athena out of the way, sticking her gorgeous face in mine. "So you saw him! Isn't he just to die for?"

Artemis rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. She and Athena glanced knowingly at one another, for they were equally as sick of Aphrodite as nearly everyone else in the world. The only reason why Aphrodite was even allowed to keep her seat in Olympus is because of the male gods.

I frowned and scooted back from Aphrodite. Didn't she even care that my Michael was gone? "Yes I saw him, but you act like I should care. He is not my soul mate."

Aphrodite's face fell and she became flustered. "You haven't even spoken to him. The second you talk to him, you'll know you're absolutely perfect for one another! Trust me, I am the Goddess of Love."

"You can take your love and shove it," I said as coldly as I possibly could.

Her eyes widened with surprise and hurt, but before she could speak again, there was a flash of golden light. Artemis and Athena jumped up. "Zeus wants us in the throne room," the Goddess of Knowledge declared. She looked back at me, "Come Violet. He wishes to see you too."

In another flash, we were standing in the familiar room adorned with twelve, impossibly large thrones and even more impossibly large men and women. Percy, Annabeth, Thalia, and Grover already stood here, Percy smiling over at me with a look of relief upon his face.

Wait. What are they doing here?

I turned to ask Artemis, but she was already in her throne, as was Athena and Aphrodite. Hestia, however, smiled graciously at me. As if she read my mind she said, "Kronos has been defeated."

"And Luke?"

She shook her head softly and I immediately knew he was dead. I turned back to watch the others, some grief settling in my heart. I only knew Luke upon the Princess Andromeda, but he seemed like a pretty good guy. Too much pride and a warped perspective, but ultimately a good man.

Hestia pat my shoulder kindly, "He died a hero. He defeated Kronos."

I nodded once, trying to not let tears reach my eyes. I stood quietly next to Hestia as Zeus and the other gods spoke. Our fallen warriors, satyrs, centaurs, and Hunters were given Elysium, possibly the highest honor they could have received. My friends were each given their own honors as well, the biggest ones they'd ever receive in life. Annabeth the Architect? Grover, the Lord of the Wild? But it was Percy's offer to Godhood that surprised me the most.

Yet, he didn't take it. Instead, he wishes for every God to be recognized at Camp and each of their demigod children to be claimed. No longer would we have a crowded Hermes Cabin, or countless angry and bitter demigods who were completely and utterly abandoned by their parents.

I sighed and had the urge to just sit on the ground. I was suddenly tired, but that all went away when someone called upon me.

"Violet Carlisle…come forth," called Zeus. Immediately, my body was locked by the shock of someone, no less a god, using my last name. Years ago when I lost my mother, I left that behind me, unable to tie myself to my past.

Zeus raised his eyebrows slightly, as if daring me to disobey a command. Hestia nudged me forward. I walked slowly into the middle of the throne room, unceremoniously, tripping slightly. I stopped, rooted to the ground, and gazed up into Zeus' face.

"Morpheus has been detained and is being held in Tartarus. He's been deemed too supportive of Kronos to be allowed to continue to influence the people of Earth. Thistly, this position is open to applications."

I frowned. "What?"

Zeus rolled his eyes once more and I looked around quickly at the other gods. Most of them were frowning at the King of the Gods, not understanding, much like me. Zeus cleared his throat and I turned back to him.

"What I mean is that someone must take Morpheus' place as the God of Dreams…or Goddess, if you understand me."

I stood quietly for a moment, taking in his words when all of a sudden it hit. He was asking me to become immortal, leave behind my life and forever live amongst the gods. Immediately, I envisioned myself as one of the more beautiful goddesses, a wanton of sorts. Would I be even more powerful than I am now? Matching not only my father but other gods?

But I shook my head. "I can't be a goddess."

Zeus frowned, as did Hera. He spoke with confusion, "It's not like you have anything else in this world child. Didn't you lose your Michael?"

My heart stabbed and I looked over at Apollo immediately, his face falling and sadness filling his eyes. I looked down at my green converse, unable to look back up at the gods. He couldn't be dead. I would feel it, I would know. I'm sure of it.

"Please, Violet, consider." A new voice broke me from my thoughts. I looked up to find Hera staring intently at me, only kindness and gentleness on her face. "You're the only one with powers like Morpheus'; you're the one person who can take his place."

"But why does someone have to take his place," I questioned silently.

Hera's face became more determined. "Dreams are what make everything. All of Man's great ideas came from dreams, Violet. Without them, humans can never advance."

The room was silent for a solid minute. I looked around at all the gods; some where smiling kindly, while others appeared to be indifferent. I laid my eyes on my friends. Thalia gave me a thumbs up, and Percy nodded his head at me. I took a breath and nodded.

Zeus and Hera smiled broadly. "All hail Violet, Goddess of Dreams," Zeus said loudly.

"Violet," Annabeth squealed. She pulled me into a hug, squeezing me tightly. Her bulging belly pushed up against me and I felt something inside kick me. "It's been too long," she practically shouted in my ear.

Annabeth pulled away from me, but grabbed my arm, dragging me into her apartment. Shutting the door quickly, she yelled, "Percy! Get out here! You'll never believe who showed up!"

There was a thump from down the hall and a yell. Annabeth smiled brightly and yelped with glee. "How've you been, Violet?" I smiled and rolled my eyes.

"Fantastic of course. And you?"

"You know, I think immortality suits you," Annabeth said matter-of-factly.

"And I see motherhood suits you," I laughed as Percy opened up a door at the end of their hallway, two dark haired toddlers running towards Annabeth as fast as possible. Annabeth laughed and scooped the tallest of the boys into her arms. Percy caught the other one and yanked him off the ground.

"What're you doing Kai? You're being a naughty little boy, aren't you," Annabeth asked as she tickled the grey-eyed boy. He giggled fiercely and pet Annabeth's stomach.

"Baby," he announced to me, grinning and rubbing her belly.

"Ariel," Percy corrected little Kai. "Your sister's name is Ariel."

Sweet Dylan sat in his arms, watching me with curiosity, as if we'd just met. Which was understandable, as I hadn't seen him since he was a few months old. At three, he was a lot older and his personality was definitely comparable to his twin's.

Dylan inherited Annabeth's personality, quiet and craved knowledge. Kai was often loud, ran into things, and just wanted a good time. Everyone was wary on how Ariel was going to turn out.

"When are you do," I asked Annabeth, who smiled brightly again.

"A month. I can't wait!"

"Yeah, well we're waiting at least five years for the next one, 'Beth," Percy announced.

Annabeth frowned, "You don't get to make the decisions Seaweed Brain. You know I want a lot of children."

Percy rolled his eyes and set done Dylan as Annabeth put Kai on the floor; immediately, the twins went running back down the hall and into their bedroom. "But we're not even 25 yet! We can wait a little longer to have more after Ariel. Plus, we'll need a bigger place."

Annabeth crossed her arms and turned to me, a look of frustration on her face. "He's so anal about everything. A few years ago, he was complaining that this place was too big, now it's too small?"

I smiled and rolled my eyes, "Hey don't bring me into this."

Annabeth and Percy became engaged in an argument, something seemingly natural for them. Their personalities constantly clashed, but there was something more behind them. A love, a bond that could not be broken, not even from their near constant fights. Their children would ignore these as they got older, knowing that their parents were unbreakable. All of the five children the Fates made lifelines for, the five beautiful children; the twins, the unborn Ariel, and the two other little girls who would come within the end of the next decade. Those children I envied greatly.

I wanted to be able to be human, marry and have perfectly mortal children. A few years after becoming a Goddess, I was approached by several Gods to be married. The first was Apollo. He said that he was greatly saddened by the death of Michael and knew that I loved him very much, but he also thought that I shouldn't dwell on Michael for the rest of eternal life. He was the only one I considered marrying.

I do not love Apollo. He's quite nice and reminds me greatly of Michael, but it's still not the same. The Oracle has let me in on the secret that within twenty years, Apollo and I will birth a Goddess of our own, but I'm personally trying to put that off.

Because what I want is a human life. Why I said yes to this whole immortal thing? Simply because dreams are too precious too let fade. But I can't stop thinking of settling with a nice human, raising a child, pretending to be human.

I walked amongst Manhattan, unknown to the mortals pushing past me, some busy and determined, some without a care in the world. I spent most of my time on Earth, trying to get away from the fact that I'm a goddess and my entire life was left behind. My friends were almost into their thirties; I, technically, was forever seventeen. Yes, I could alter my appearance to however I willed, but it wasn't the same-the growing, actually living aspect.

Most of the time, I transported myself to various places throughout the world. While I was still just a poor, struggling mortal living in Chicago, I dreamed of breaking out one day and traveling the world. Egypt was a high priority; perhaps I was drawn there because of my brother, Tutankhamun. But now I had the power to be anywhere, do nearly anything. I jumped from China, to Italy, to Fiji. There, I would chat with locals, pretending that I belonged.

Yet, I don't. I'm a Goddess and in some places, I get recognized. Clio the Muse of History, had rewritten History, making it seem as if I'd always been the Goddess of Dreams; well, she had included Morpheus, but implied I existed in the past and overthrew my father. In due time, this would be completely true. Sometimes, demigods in various places all over the world will bow to me, which quite frankly, I'm not too fond of. For someone who desperately tried to hide from others in the past, this was still strange.

Even after nine years.

I smiled at a stray little girl, perhaps about seven, who walked past with her mother, who was clearly in a hurry. The small blonde grinned brightly and waved. I returned the gesture and walked straight into someone.

"Watch yourself," they said loudly.

I turned to find myself face to face with Tobias Plath, my supposed soul mate. I only saw him once in person in my life, yet I remember him clear as day. The black, shaggy hair; stunning blue eyes that seemed to suck you away from everything. He was tall, taller than my birth, current form. He was, of course, older than the last time I saw him, no longer the thin boy who stood in front of Kronos like it was no big deal. Tobias was much more muscular now.

I naturally kept tabs on him after the Battle of Manhattan, after I became a Goddess. He was sixteen then and the son of Hecate. His father abandoned Tobias when he was a toddler and Hecate never had contact with him during his life; Tobias was raised by his grandmother and he seemed to have inherited his mother's knack for magic.

"Oh, Violet! I'm so sorry," he immediately said, his eyes going wide, recognizing me instantly. He looked around, confused as to if he should bow or do anything, really.

"Tobias Plath. I trust that you've been good since pledging yourself to Kronos."

He looked down, ashamed. "I only did that because I didn't know the Gods side. Isn't that why you'd taken Kronos' side when you were human?"

I scoffed at the mention of that mistake that I made so long ago. I regretted ever going on that ship, but at least I'd learned to fight from the best.

We stood in silence for a moment, letting everyone pass us by. After a moment, I looked into Tobias' eyes to find him staring at me intensely. I smiled slowly as Tobias grinned at me. Going into his mind, I could see myself from his perspective.

Beautiful, insanely, inhumanely possibly beautiful. Perhaps I could even be compared to Aphrodite as one of the more gorgeous Goddesses. No. No one must think that, unless they wish themselves to be damned by Aphrodite's wrath. But the dark hair, dark eyes, something was special there. Tobias could see it; he wanted to be surrounded by it constantly.

Slowly, Tobias opened his mouth to talk. "So I know that you gods don't drink or anything, but do you mind stopping somewhere with me so we can chat?"

*Author's Note* Sorry it took so long to post this last chapter, but I've been busy! Work, school, and I was on my school's homecoming court! YAY! Anyway, yes, this is the final chapter. But I wish to do a spin-off. You'll know when you see it.

I'm going to work primarily on "In The Air," because if I don't start working on that now, it'll never get done. Thank you so much to everyone who tracked this story, read, and reviewed it!

XxSamacoyxX


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